Star Spangled War Stories 2 (October 2014)

Star Spangled War Stories #2 G.I. Zombie likes to talk to himself. A lot. He and his partner spend the issue working on separate parts of the same mission; she gets to talk to the bad guys, he gets to kill them and talk to himself. A lot.

It doesn’t make much sense, since Palmiotti and Gray open the issue with G.I. Zombie narrating it. Why change from perfectly reasonable narration to the guy talking to himself while on his stealth mission? No idea. It doesn’t make sense.

The big finish is similarly confusing. Palmiotti and Gray do pace the issue rather well. Although it takes place over an hour or so, it’s a very busy hour and there are a handful of nods towards character development. But the ending is a mess. It’s too fast and too slight.

Also a problem is Hampton’s art. He maintains the cool style, but he’s slacking in detail.

B-

CREDITS

Writers, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray; artist and colorist, Scott Hampton; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, David Piña and Joey Cavalieri; publisher, DC Comics.

Star Spangled War Stories 1 (September 2014)

Star Spangled War Stories #1 Star Spangled War Stories. G.I. Zombie. Neither of those titles suggest the comic is going to open in the present day, set in Louisiana, but writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray don’t do anything predictable in this first issue. Not the first twist, not G.I. Zombie, not the cliffhanger. Not the zombie scene.

It’s highly inventive stuff, with Palmiotti and Gray changing genres from military to federal agent procedural. Zombie’s setup–a female federal agent and her new partner, the only zombie in the world–is ready for a television pilot next season but that commercial appeal doesn’t hinder the issue at all. Having Scott Hampton on the art helps immeasurably; Hampton does a focus thing with the art. The backgrounds feel painted and distant, the characters sort of move on top of it. It’s an excellent effect.

There are some third act pacing problems, but it’s off to a strong start.

CREDITS

Writers, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray; artist and colorist, Scott Hampton; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Kyle Andrukiewicz and Joey Cavalieri; publisher, DC Comics.

All-Star Western 3 (January 2012)

There’s something missing from this issue. There’s lots of Western action–including a great scene of a gatling gun taking out Hex’s associates on a Gotham street–and the atmosphere is amazing. So it’s not that part of it… it’s the rest.

There’s no story.

Gray and Palmiotti resolve their lame cliffhanger in a page, so fast I didn’t even realize what happened, and then things race along. There are a bunch of conversations, an action scene, and the revelation Hex has something else to do in Gotham.

All the conspiracy stuff and character development are gone. But the issue’s so fun… I didn’t realize it until I had finished reading.

Moritat is getting a little loose, but he still delivers.

The El Diablo back-up is weak, except for Jordi Bernet’s art. It’s really talky and Gray and Palmiotti seem to be going for an ominous finish. They fail.

CREDITS

No News Is Good; artist, Moritat; colorist, Gabriel Bautista. El Diablo; artist, Jordi Bernet; colorist, Rob Schwager. Writers, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Kate Stewart and Joey Cavalieri; publisher, DC Comics.

All-Star Western 2 (December 2011)

First off, this comic is good.

I don’t plan on getting too negative sounding, but in case I do… I wanted to open saying it’s good. Gray and Palmiotti have found their niche with Jonah Hex.

And this issue has an El Diablo backup, which is extra nice because it provides a great example of what I wanted to talk about. The cliffhanger on the Hex story is terrible. He’s in danger. A giant is about to pop his head off.

Now, I do not believe for one moment Hex is going to die. It’s a waste of a page. The El Diablo backup, on the other hand, has a rousing soft cliffhanger—El Diablo is about to kick ass.

It’s strange to have both in the same issue, by the same writers.

The puzzling cliffhanger problem aside, it’s great stuff.

Moritat opens the Hex story with a fantastic shootout.

CREDITS

Showdown at House Arkham; artist, Moritat; colorist, Gabriel Bautista. El Diablo; writers, Gray and Palmiotti; artist, Jordi Bernet; colorist, Rob Schwager. Writers, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Kate Stewart and Joey Cavalieri; publisher, DC Comics.

All-Star Western 1 (November 2011)

Probably foolishly, I always ignored Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti’s Jonah Hex. They relaunch the title here, in All-Star Western and it’s one of the best DC relaunch books.

Maybe because Gray and Palmiotti aren’t really relaunching anything.

The issue takes Hex to Gotham City as it’s being founded and gets him involved in a mystery with Professor Arkham. Or Doctor Arkham. I can’t remember. Arkham narrates to great effect, spinning his wheels about Hex’s psychology while laying out the developments in their investigation too.

It’s really… neat. Gray and Palmiotti sort of embrace the idea of being a DC fan. There’s all sorts of mentions of ancestors to familiar cast members–Mayor Cobblepot, a Wayne, maybe something else. It feels more like a DC limited series from the nineties, Jonah Hex travels through DC’s history, and it works really well.

Of course, having Moritat’s excellent artwork doesn’t hurt.

CREDITS

Writers, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; artist, Moritat; colorist, Gabriel Bautista; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Kate Stewart and Joey Cavalieri; publisher, DC Comics.

Time Bomb (2010) #3

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Well, if anything, this issue of Time Bomb does feature Gulacy’s best two panels in the last… five years? I’m trying to remember the last time anything he did wowed me. It’s been a long time, but there are a couple close-ups here… it’s just beautiful art. It got me looking at the rest of his design and his panel layouts still have some imagination. They just don’t have finishing.

Otherwise, it’s a pretty uneventful final issue. It’s an all action issue. The series started out high concept but it’s not anymore. Palmiotti and Gray are so low on ideas, they spend most of their dialogue making fun of Germans. None of it’s funny or even imaginative. It’s like they Googled German jokes and inserted them into the script. The Leni Riefenstahl reference is particularly bad.

Oh, and they resurrect Hitler for some reason.

Still, it could’ve been worse.

Time Bomb 3 (December 2010)

Oh, and they resurrect Hitler for some reason.

Still, it could’ve been worse.

CREDITS

Writers, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray; artist, Paul Gulacy; colorist, Rain Beredo; letterer, John J. Hill; editor, Rob Levin; publisher, Radical Comics.

Time Bomb (2010) #2

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Unfortunately for the reader, Palmiotti and Gray do something incredibly strange here–they make the issue nearly unapproachable to someone who hasn’t just read the previous issue. I guess there are a couple paragraphs recapping the first issue, but who reads those? I certainly can’t be expecting to hunt it down on the back of the cover either.

Some of the problem is the indistinguishable Gulacy faces. Everyone looks the same, especially in their Nazi outfits. Even the black guy’s often indistinguishable, due to the issue’s the coloring scheme–it’s easier to tell him from the others based on his goatee.

Otherwise, the comic’s pretty fun. It’s a bunch of time traveling Nazi hunters–Palmiotti and Gray don’t do the usual and make the sole sympathetic German–all of them are evil here–and it’s decently plotted. As well as an okay television mini-series anyway.

Some awful dialogue though.

Time Bomb 2 (September 2010)

Some awful dialogue though.

CREDITS

p style=”font-size:11px;”>Writers, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray; artist, Paul Gulacy; colorist, Rain Beredo; letterer, John J. Hill; editor, Rob Levin; publisher, Radical Comics.

Time Bomb (2010) #1

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Holy cow, what a fun comic book. I think I might like this one more than any other Gray and Palmiotti book I’ve ever read. It plays like a big budget TV miniseries from the eighties or something–time travel to stop the Nazis from destroying the world in the present (a rough description, but accurate).

Gray and Palmiotti fill it with a bunch of fake, but sort of convincing sounding, science (think Michael Crichton without the research) and they sell the whole thing.

There’s some stupid stuff–like the N.W.O. (the New World Order) being the SHIELD of the comic–when did N.W.O. stop wrestling, anyway? And the introductory character stuff doesn’t matter, because they’re spending the rest of the series in the past, fighting Nazis… so who cares?

Gulacy’s art is… well, it’s modern Gulacy and he’s almost sixty and it shows.

But it’s damned entertaining comic book.