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Batman 349 (July 1982)
It’s Robin versus his vampire girlfriend while Alfred hires the Human Target to trick Vicki Vale and Jim Gordon decides to stop being a mope. Batman barely makes an appearance–he shows up at the beginning to remind the reader he or she needs to pick up the month’s Detective Comics. It’s a weird few pages,… 📖
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Unknown Soldier (2008) #18
Dysart finishes the arc without giving the action payoff I was expecting (I was also expecting another issue of the arc). It seems he’s saying goodbye to Paul too, after giving the kid a really rough lesson or two this issue in futility. Moses learns a similar lesson and ends the story in a far… 📖
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Unknown Soldier (2008) #17
I think this arc runs five issues and Dysart is three in–and wrapping up some of the revelations–so I was wondering how he was going to keep it going. He’s keeping it going by turning the entire comic on its head. Turning Moses into an unreliable narrator–who isn’t reliable to himself either–isn’t an unprecedented narrative… 📖
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Unknown Soldier (2008) #16
It’s kind of a mystery story and kind of not. Moses is very active this issue, but not in his usual way. Instead, he’s back to being a doctor, back to letting his concern for people effect his actions. I know this arc isn’t the last one, but it feels like Dysart is trying to… 📖
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Unknown Soldier (2008) #15
Ponticelli changes his style a little. His lines are muted. Coupled with Moses’s narration, Unknown Soldier feels very far away, very dreamlike. Moses’s narration brings the reader up to speed (it’s possibly a letter to his wife) and, basically, he’s loitered around the village where he found Paul a home. Bad things happen, big and… 📖
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Detective Comics (1937) #515
Ugh. “Matches” Malone is so goofy. Why hasn’t anyone modernized him…. Otherwise, it’s a decent issue. The Chiaramonte inks are the best so far. It’s not the best Newton, but it’s good. Conway gets a lot of story going–Bruce is in LA investigating a school for criminals, Dick is stalking his ex-girlfriend (who seems to… 📖
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Batman (1940) #348
After a lame Man-Bat two-parter, Conway does the story right with this issue. He’s got Colan and Janson on it–there’s a heartbreaking panel of Man-Bat holding his daughter here–and everything is just in perfect sync. It’s so well-done, I can even excuse the part when Bruce changes to Batman to take Man-Bat’s daughter to look… 📖
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Detective Comics 515 (June 1982)
Ugh. “Matches” Malone is so goofy. Why hasn’t anyone modernized him…. Otherwise, it’s a decent issue. The Chiaramonte inks are the best so far. It’s not the best Newton, but it’s good. Conway gets a lot of story going–Bruce is in LA investigating a school for criminals, Dick is stalking his ex-girlfriend (who seems to… 📖
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Batman 348 (June 1982)
After a lame Man-Bat two-parter, Conway does the story right with this issue. He’s got Colan and Janson on it–there’s a heartbreaking panel of Man-Bat holding his daughter here–and everything is just in perfect sync. It’s so well-done, I can even excuse the part when Bruce changes to Batman to take Man-Bat’s daughter to look… 📖
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Unknown Soldier (2008) #14
In some ways, this issue is one of Unknown Soldier’s least depressing–Paul gets a good ending (at least for this issue) and Moses gets a chance at some relief. But it’s somehow even more depressing, because Dysart gives Moses this chance to reflect, to think about himself and what he has done and will do.… 📖
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Unknown Soldier (2008) #13
I think I was unprepared for Unknown Soldier after the lighter fare I’ve been reading lately. Dysart’s doing a two-parter following up on the kid Moses brought to the school. Now, I’m assuming Dysart researched it, so when the school sets the kids loose on each other in a war game–which really messes some of… 📖
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Batman (1940) #347
I love this issue. It’s heavy-handed to some degree–it’s two would be criminals trying to decide if they want to commit a crime in Gotham City and talking about Batman–and Slifer’s attempts at showing the socioeconomic toils on a population are… pedestrian, but it’s a great Batman story. There are two stories the guys tell… 📖
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Detective Comics (1937) #514
What a weak issue. I mean… it’s really weak. It’s competent in a way someone spending sixty cents might not complain, but it’s not good at all. The feature is a Maxie Zeus story. Batman’s hunting him through a snow storm. There’s a scene where Dick and Alfred talk about worrying about him. It’s like… 📖
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Dragnet (1987, Tom Mankiewicz)
Dragnet was a hit. I’m always shocked when good comedies are hits. Good comedies haven’t been hits since I’ve been able to legally buy cigarettes. There are a couple things, right off, I don’t want to forget about. First is Tom Hanks. He’s such a good comedic actor, what he’s done since–the serious man bit–is… 📖
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Batman 347 (May 1982)
I love this issue. It’s heavy-handed to some degree–it’s two would be criminals trying to decide if they want to commit a crime in Gotham City and talking about Batman–and Slifer’s attempts at showing the socioeconomic toils on a population are… pedestrian, but it’s a great Batman story. There are two stories the guys tell… 📖
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Detective Comics 514 (May 1982)
What a weak issue. I mean… it’s really weak. It’s competent in a way someone spending sixty cents might not complain, but it’s not good at all. The feature is a Maxie Zeus story. Batman’s hunting him through a snow storm. There’s a scene where Dick and Alfred talk about worrying about him. It’s like… 📖
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Aliens (1988) #6
The whole series collapses here, thanks to Verheiden’s absurd sense of self-importance. In six issues, he destroys the planet Earth. Wait, no, he doesn’t. In one issue he destroys the planet Earth. He didn’t really hint at that plan until this issue either. He uses Newt as a narrator again and it’s just as bad… 📖
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Aliens (1988) #5
Yuck. Verheiden writes the majority of the issue–maybe all of it, I can’t remember, my brain is on strike–from Newt’s perspective. He narrates the issue with her. It’s awful female narration by a male comic book writer. Probably not the worst ever, but it’s hideous. The plotting isn’t bad–though I’m not sure why Hicks is… 📖
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Aliens (1988) #4
Almost the entire issue is told in summary–it’s not bad, actually, since Verheiden is using a layered narrative (he’s gone on to write crappy Superman/Batman comics, hasn’t he? That’s unfortunate). He resolves the whole thing with the aliens on earth, which is both good and bad. It’s nice he was able to resolve it in… 📖
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Aliens (1988) #3
Has Warren Ellis read this issue? Because it reminds me a lot of his first issue for Ultimate Nightmare. It’s better than that comic, but very similar. Verheiden opens the issue with a bunch of psychological reports of people freaking out because of the alien–just being near it. It’s a cool idea, the aliens driving… 📖
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Aliens (1988) #2
The second issue is, generally, fine. Verheiden tries to fit way too much in and his use of Hicks as a narrator is problematic (Hicks is very well-spoken for someone who didn’t talk in the movie much… maybe he just read a lot and kept to himself). The art becomes a bit of an issue,… 📖
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Aliens (1988) #1
Here’s why I trust Dark Horse on licensed properties. It’s a misplaced trust, I’ve learned as I’ve gone back to read their comics as an adult, but Aliens still holds up. It’s an earnest attempt to make a sequel to the movie, but it also adapts for the comic form. There are dream sequences and… 📖
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Aliens 6 (July 1989)
The whole series collapses here, thanks to Verheiden’s absurd sense of self-importance. In six issues, he destroys the planet Earth. Wait, no, he doesn’t. In one issue he destroys the planet Earth. He didn’t really hint at that plan until this issue either. He uses Newt as a narrator again and it’s just as bad… 📖
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Aliens 5 (June 1989)
Yuck. Verheiden writes the majority of the issue–maybe all of it, I can’t remember, my brain is on strike–from Newt’s perspective. He narrates the issue with her. It’s awful female narration by a male comic book writer. Probably not the worst ever, but it’s hideous. The plotting isn’t bad–though I’m not sure why Hicks is… 📖
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Aliens 4 (April 1989)
Almost the entire issue is told in summary–it’s not bad, actually, since Verheiden is using a layered narrative (he’s gone on to write crappy Superman/Batman comics, hasn’t he? That’s unfortunate). He resolves the whole thing with the aliens on earth, which is both good and bad. It’s nice he was able to resolve it in… 📖
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Aliens 3 (January 1989)
Has Warren Ellis read this issue? Because it reminds me a lot of his first issue for Ultimate Nightmare. It’s better than that comic, but very similar. Verheiden opens the issue with a bunch of psychological reports of people freaking out because of the alien–just being near it. It’s a cool idea, the aliens driving… 📖
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Aliens 1 (May 1988)
Here’s why I trust Dark Horse on licensed properties. It’s a misplaced trust, I’ve learned as I’ve gone back to read their comics as an adult, but Aliens still holds up. It’s an earnest attempt to make a sequel to the movie, but it also adapts for the comic form. There are dream sequences and… 📖
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Detective Comics (1937) #513
How did DC let this one get to the printers? Chiaramonte’s inks are a complete disaster. Maybe Newton was in a rush and Chiaramonte had to cover a lot but… it doesn’t even look like Newton here. The story’s got some interesting parts, not the “Batman is missing” parts (Two-Face has kidnapped him and is… 📖
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Hotwire: Deep Cut 2 (October 2010)
Pugh has some pacing issues but I think the big problem is… three issues isn’t enough Hotwire. He’s moving the series toward a close–and he’s doing an admirable job fitting a lot in (whether it’s Alice being well-liked or the stuff between the ghost soldier and the zombie)–but it’s clear he knows the end is… 📖
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Hotwire: Deep Cut (2010) #2
Pugh has some pacing issues but I think the big problem is… three issues isn’t enough Hotwire. He’s moving the series toward a close–and he’s doing an admirable job fitting a lot in (whether it’s Alice being well-liked or the stuff between the ghost soldier and the zombie)–but it’s clear he knows the end is… 📖
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Detective Comics 513 (April 1982)
How did DC let this one get to the printers? Chiaramonte’s inks are a complete disaster. Maybe Newton was in a rush and Chiaramonte had to cover a lot but… it doesn’t even look like Newton here. The story’s got some interesting parts, not the “Batman is missing” parts (Two-Face has kidnapped him and is… 📖
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Batman (1940) #346
The cover villain is Two-Face but apparently he’s got a girl sidekick who’s the one who’s really after Batman. Presumably we’ll find out her story next issue. The most interesting–I was just reading some comic creators on Twitter say critics use the word “interesting” to mean “bad,” which is ludicrous, but anyway–the most interesting thing… 📖
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Criminal: The Sinners (2009) #5
It’s completely predictable but I guess it’s nowhere near as bad as it could have been. I read The Sinners and I think back to when Brubaker actually wrote real conversations. It’s like he uses Criminal‘s noir influences to excuse no one talking to each other, just at each other. This issue features nothing new,… 📖
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Criminal: The Sinners (2009) #4
I’m not trying to be a jerk with the following question. Really, I’m not. Has Brubaker ever read Criminal? Because this arc, with Tracy Lawless being an honorable man among the riffraff, it really feels like Brubaker hasn’t read his comic before. It might explain why Criminal‘s quality is always so sporadic. This issue has… 📖
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Batman 346 (April 1982)
The cover villain is Two-Face but apparently he’s got a girl sidekick who’s the one who’s really after Batman. Presumably we’ll find out her story next issue. The most interesting–I was just reading some comic creators on Twitter say critics use the word “interesting” to mean “bad,” which is ludicrous, but anyway–the most interesting thing… 📖
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Cop Out (2010, Kevin Smith)
It might be funny to kick Kevin Smith when he’s down–Cop Out, his first attempt at directing someone else’s script (after fifteen years of doing his own projects), bombed and then there was that whole thing with the airplane seating–but Cop Out‘s not his fault. Well, maybe Seann William Scott is Smith’s fault, but he… 📖
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Criminal: The Sinners 5 (March 2010)
It’s completely predictable but I guess it’s nowhere near as bad as it could have been. I read the Sinners and I think back to when Brubaker actually wrote real conversations. It’s like he uses Criminal‘s noir influences to excuse no one talking to each other, just at each other. This issue features nothing new,… 📖
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Criminal: The Sinners 4 (February 2010)
I’m not trying to be a jerk with the following question. Really, I’m not. Has Brubaker ever read Criminal? Because this arc, with Tracy Lawless being an honorable man among the riffraff, it really feels like Brubaker hasn’t read his comic before. It might explain why Criminal‘s quality is always so sporadic. This issue has… 📖
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Criminal: The Sinners (2009) #3
Well, I figured out one major problem–besides the contrived plotting–Brubaker doesn’t have a protagonist this series. He did the first issue, because he hadn’t introduced his teen killers for God (an ex-Army Catholic priest is getting kids to kill criminals), but now he’s got nothing. The narration is awful this issue. It’s probably the worst… 📖
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Criminal: The Sinners 3 (December 2009)
Well, I figured out one major problem–besides the contrived plotting–Brubaker doesn’t have a protagonist this series. He did the first issue, because he hadn’t introduced his teen killers for God (an ex-Army Catholic priest is getting kids to kill criminals), but now he’s got nothing. The narration is awful this issue. It’s probably the worst… 📖
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Criminal: The Sinners (2009) #2
Brubaker opens the issue with some terrible adjective use, so I started out ready to nitpick. Of course, he didn’t have to prove me right… but he went ahead and did so anyway. I really loathe these types of reviews, because I really do love Brubaker’s work. It’s just… fallen off since he’s gotten to… 📖
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Criminal: The Sinners (2009) #1
I guess Brubaker thought Criminal was out of control too, because for the Sinners, he returns to his most solid protagonist–Tracy Lawless (from the second arc of the first series). For a while it works. We catch up with Tracy. In the year since the last story took place, he’s become a hitman with a… 📖