Wednesday Comics 6 (12 August 2009)

632690 Let’s get started. Batman–Risso’s artwork is weak. It’s loose when it needs to be strong and vice versa. Fun Kamandi but Gibbons isn’t giving Sook enough room for the content. Superman’s the opposite. Too much room, too little content. Deadman’s mediocre, probably its worst strip (it’s a wee trite).

Green Lantern’s continuing to sink too. Busiek’s Hal is an unlikable narrator. Gaiman and Allred cheat on Metamorpho–half the page is a board game. It’s cute, but clearly there’s not much story.

Oh, Berganza’s Teen Titans. He gives Blue Beetle the internal monologue of the Taco Bell chihuahua. It’s offensive in addition to awful.

The Adam Strange is amazing. Bringing him back to Earth, Pope finds a great twist. The Supergirl’s weak (relying on Aquaman jokes). Metal Men’s good, Wonder Woman’s half-amazing, half-incomprehensible. Weak Rock, okay Flash, weak Demon, great Hawkman… Baker’s artwork is absolutely phenomenal here.

CREDITS

Batman; writer, Brian Azzarello; artist, Eduardo Risso; colorist, Patricia Mulvihill; letterer, Clem Robins. Kamandi; writer, Dave Gibbons; artist, Ryan Sook. Superman; writer, John Arcudi; artist, Lee Bermejo; colorist, Barbara Ciardo; letterer, Ken Lopez. Deadman; writers, Vinton Heuck and Dave Bullock; artist, Bullock; colorist, Dave Stewart; letterer, Jared Fletcher. Green Lantern; writer, Kurt Busiek; artist and colorist, Joe Quinones; letterer, Pat Brosseau. Metamorpho; writer, Neil Gaiman; artist, Mike Allred; colorist, Laura Allred; letterer, Nate Piekos. Teen Titans; writer, Eddie Berganza; artist and colorist, Sean Galloway; letterer, Nick J. Napolitano. Adam Strange; writer, artist and letterer, Paul Pope; colorist, Jose Villarrubia. Supergirl; writer, Jimmy Palmiotti; artist, Amanda Conner; colorist, Paul Mounts; letterer, John J. Hill. Metal Men; writer, Dan DiDio; penciller, Jose Luís Garcia-Lopez; inker, Kevin Nowlan; colorist, Mulvihill; letterer, Lopez. Wonder Woman; writer, artist, colorist and letterer, Ben Caldwell. Sgt. Rock; writer, Adam Kubert; artist, colorist and letterer, Joe Kubert. The Flash; writers, Brendan Fletcher and Karl Kerschl; artist, Kerschl; colorist, Dave McCaig; letterer, Rob Leigh. The Demon and Catwoman; writer, Walt Simonson; artist and colorist, Brian Stelfreeze; letterer, Steve Wands. Hawkman; writer, artist, colorist and letterer, Kyle Baker. Editors, Chris Conroy and Mark Chiarello; publisher, DC Comics.

Wednesday Comics 5 (5 August 2009)

632689 Lame Batman, good Kamandi (Sook does a good Planet of the Apes), lame Superman (though Bermejo’s a little better), okay Deadman (one of the book’s steadiest strips), lame Green Lantern (after always being mediocre before)….

I’m trying something different since these comics usually provide so little to really talk about.

Metamorpho’s a little better, Teen Titans is a little worse. Great Adam Strange, just featuring Alanna. Pope gives her a nice strip to herself. And Supergirl’s turning into one of the better strips in the series overall. Palmiotti’s tone for it is perfect and Conner’s art is engaging. Another good Metal Men, another interesting and confusing Wonder Woman, another crappy Sgt. Rock. I wonder if Joe Kubert just wasn’t willing to draw very much.

The Flash is fine, ice art from Kerschl. The Demon and Catwoman is completely passable. Hawkman recovers too, great action page.

The quality’s plateaued.

CREDITS

Wednesday Comics 4 (29 July 2009)

632688 Baker gets awkwardly jokey on the Hawkman, which is otherwise all right. He’s got a great looking space battle involving the JLA satellite.

Speaking of art, Bermejo’s Superman is particularly awful this issue. He’s apparently incapable of drawing Ma Kent. He draws her for three or four panels, each worse than the last.

Metamorpho makes a slight recovery; at least Gaiman’s got actual panels and something of a narrative. It’s all a tease, but it’s better than it has been.

The most reliable strips are Pope’s Adam Strange, Bullock and Heuck’s Deadman (it’s never great, but always decent), Gibbons and Sook’s Kamandi and some others. Metal Men, by Didio and Garcia-Lopez, continues to impress. Didio really does fit in some good character dialogue, even with all the action.

Berganza and Galloway’s Teen Titans actually manages to be worse, which seems unimaginable.

The issue’s quality’s up. The strips are stabilizing.

CREDITS

Wednesday Comics 3 (22 July 2009)

632687 This issue has even less good strips than before. Sgt. Rock in particular falls off, with Joe Kubert’s art getting way too loose. Gaiman and Allred’s Metamorpho doesn’t recover either.

In other words, at issue three, Wednesday Comics is already downhill.

Azzarello and Risso’s Batman manages to be worse, as does Arcudi and Bermejo’s Superman. Kamadi by Gibbons and Sook, however, is awesome. It’s perfect as a comic strip.

Nice Adam Strange by Pope, nice Metal Men by Didio and Garcia-Lopez. Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner’s Supergirl is rather cute; being well-intentioned and competent compensates for its lack of ambition.

Sadly, Kerschl and Fletcher’s Flash falters. They concentrate on a dramatic cliffhanger instead of an amusing one.

Kyle Baker quizzically turns his Hawkman into an “aliens were behind 9/11” thing. I hope that theme doesn’t stick.

The issue’s tiresome. The standouts don’t make up for the failures.

CREDITS

Batman; writer, Brian Azzarello; artist, Eduardo Risso; colorist, Patricia Mulvihill; letterer, Clem Robins. Kamandi; writer, Dave Gibbons; artist, Ryan Sook. Superman; writer, John Arcudi; artist, Lee Bermejo; colorist, Barbara Ciardo; letterer, Ken Lopez. Deadman; writers, Vinton Heuck and Dave Bullock; artist, Bullock; colorist, Dave Stewart; letterer, Jared Fletcher. Green Lantern; writer, Kurt Busiek; artist and colorist, Joe Quinones; letterer, Pat Brosseau. Metamorpho; writer, Neil Gaiman; artist, Mike Allred; colorist, Laura Allred; letterer, Nate Piekos. Teen Titans; writer, Eddie Berganza; artist and colorist, Sean Galloway; letterer, Nick J. Napolitano. Adam Strange; writer, artist and letterer, Paul Pope; colorists, Jose Villarrubia and Lovern Kindzierski. Supergirl; writer, Jimmy Palmiotti; artist, Amanda Conner; colorist, Paul Mounts; letterer, John J. Hill. Metal Men; writer, Dan DiDio; penciller, Jose Luís Garcia-Lopez; inker, Kevin Nowlan; colorist, Mulvihill; letterer, Lopez. Wonder Woman; writer, artist, colorist and letterer, Ben Caldwell. Sgt. Rock; writer, Adam Kubert; artist, colorist and letterer, Joe Kubert. The Flash; writers, Brendan Fletcher and Karl Kerschl; artist, Kerschl; colorist, Dave McCaig; letterer, Rob Leigh. The Demon and Catwoman; writer, Walt Simonson; artist and colorist, Brian Stelfreeze; letterer, Steve Wands. Hawkman; writer, artist, colorist and letterer, Kyle Baker. Editors, Chris Conroy and Mark Chiarello; publisher, DC Comics.

Wednesday Comics 2 (15 July 2009)

632686 So even some of the better ones from the previous issue are losers this week. Specifically Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred’s Metamorpho. They flop on the format.

Still strong are Pope’s Adam Strange, Baker’s Hawkman, Dan Didio and Jose Luís Garcia-Lopez’s Metal Men (no, really) and Catwoman by Walt Simonson and Brian Stelfreeze. Oh, and Kamandi by Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook. The biggest surprise has got to be The Flash from Brendan Fletcher and Karl Kerschl. They split it between Iris and Barry and have a very unexpected, but fun, twist.

Deadman, from Vinton Heuck and Dave Bullock, is another nice one.

The lousy ones remain lousy (or worse). Azzarello and Risso’s Batman stinks; Risso’s art wastes the large size. Arcudi and Bermejo’s Superman is probably worse, just because it’s so poorly written. Berganza and Galloway’s Teen Titans has to be the worst one overall.

Another mixed bag.

CREDITS

Wednesday Comics (2009) #1

Wednesday Comics 1 crop

Wednesday Comics really needs a stronger editorial hand. While some of the creators get the concept, others completely fumble it. The successes (and the mediocrities) make up for the bad patches.

In the “no idea how to do the format” section, the issue has Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso on Batman, John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo on Superman (thumbs down to Bermejo’s interpretation too), Eddie Berganza and Sean Galloway on Teen Titans (Galloway’s art is atrocious) and the Kuberts on Sgt. Rock. At least the art’s good on Rock from Joe.

The best entries are–no shock–Paul Pope and Kyle Baker’s. Pope does Adam Strange, Baker Hawkman. They both gleefully approach the newspaper sized medium, pacing their entries differently–though most of the better stories don’t spend this page setting up a plot. The worst ones do.

The issue’s interesting, but barely half successful. There are some real stinkers.

Wednesday Comics 1 (8 July 2009)

666638 Wednesday Comics really needs a stronger editorial hand. While some of the creators get the concept, others completely fumble it. The successes (and the mediocrities) make up for the bad patches.

The issue’s interesting, but barely half successful. There are some real stinkers.

CREDITS

Rocketeer Adventures 3 (July 2011)

838629 Rocketeer Adventures really needs some editorial guidance. Or at least the stories need to make sense in relation to one another.

The first story, from Ryan Sook, is pretty good. But Sook makes a big point of how Cliff gets the fame Betty so desperately wants, only he never indicates whether she’s jealous about it. His finish, while beautifully done, could go either way.

Then there’s the Joe R. Lansdale short story. Lansdale writes a pulpy text–nothing particularly special and he doesn’t describe the action very well. Bruce Timm’s occasional illustrations ignore the pulpy quality. Timm does G-rated art for an R-rated story. It’s a complete disconnect.

The final story, from Jonathan Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards, is easily the best. Ross has a fun setup and, refreshingly, concentrates on the female characters. Edwards’s stylized art suits it well.

Even with the pluses, the issue feels unsubstantial.

CREDITS

A Rocketeer Story; writer, artist, colorist and letterer, Ryan Sook. Heaven’s Devils; writer, Joe R. Lansdale; plotter, artist and colorist, Bruce Timm. Junior Rocketeers; writer, Jonathan Ross; artist and colorist, Tommy Lee Edwards; letterer, John Workman. Editor, Scott Dunbier; publisher, IDW Publishing.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (2011) #5

Ta05

Yeah, I definitely think the longer first two issues spoiled me. Or maybe it’s just the position Spencer puts the reader in. After totally changing the status quo with the last cliffhanger, he changes it again this issue. Or at least he implies he didn’t totally change it like he suggested.

Maybe I’m just upset about the lack of fleshed out flashback sequences. The second issue spoiled me there. Here, it’s just a few pages of Ryan Sook and then no more….

It’s slick, computer colored Sook, but still Sook.

Spencer also introduces some of philosophy behind the villains–it’s kind of amusing, very hip and all, but it’s unclear how important it’s going to be.

The element of absurd humor is something new to the book; it’s still earnest and serious, but there’s now a knowing wink to Spencer’s writing.

He practically seems British (he’s not), commenting on American expectations.

Dark Horse Presents (1986) #157

Dhp157

The final issue of Dark Horse Presents doesn’t even note it on the cover. On either cover actually. If it weren’t for The Goon, one might say the series just trailed off. Luckily, it does have The Goon.

That statement is not to suggest The Goon is fantastic. It might be only my second ever Goon comic. Powell’s art is nice and his writing is fun in a very mean-spirited way. I thought the series was about zombies, but here it’s just The Goon and Franky bullying people (not even sure Franky gets named in the story). Well, bullying fish. Still, it’s big and it’s different and distinctive.

Without it, Presents would go out on Witch’s Son. In this installment, Allie seems to be setting up a new superhero. Sook gets assists from Moline and Owens inks them both. The art becomes indistinct. It’s not terrible, but somewhat lame.