Tom Strong 21 (October 2003)

Tom Strong #21 The Tom Stone story continues with Moore doing a combination alternate history lesson of the twentieth century–with Tom Stone and the good Saveen rehabilitating all the villains instead of fighting them–and wink at the traditional Tom Strong back story.

The most interesting part is how Tom Strong’s mother is basically the only villain in the issue. She’s the one knowingly endangering the fabric of the space-time continuum. But not really, because everything in the Tom Stone world is okay.

And Tom Strong gets to hear all about how he didn’t do things as well as Tom Stone would have done–the deciding factor seems to be Tom Strong’s dad not being as sympathetic as Tom Stone’s–and even he gets tired of it.

There’s not a lot of drama to the issue, something Moore saves entirely for the soft cliffhanger.

It’s competently done, but lacks any momentum.

CREDITS

How Tom Stone Got Started, Part Two: Strongmen in Silvertime; writer, Alan Moore; penciller, Jerry Ordway; inkers, Trevor Scott, Karl Story and Richard Friend; colorist, Wildstorm FX; letterer, Todd Klein; editors, Kristy Quinn and Scott Dunbier; publisher, America’s Best Comics.

Blackhawks 3 (January 2012)

The art combination of Nolan and Trevor Scott is hilarious. Nolan did all right before, so I guess Scott’s not particularly good at “finishing.” The lady with the eye patch changes bra sizes about nine times throughout the comic, but her hand remains bigger than her torso throughout. And the silver-haired Blackhawk commander changes age multiple times in a scene.

Speaking of the commander, why doesn’t he do anything? Mocking the art is easy and fun because there are some awful panels, but the real problem is Costa. He can’t even tell a joke.

He can, however, rip off Alien 4 for one of his plot details. Or maybe it was Alien³….

There’s also a wasteful interlude with two kidnapped Blackhawks members. Only none of them are distinctive except Patch Girl (the biggest G.I. Joe rip-off) and Silverhead, so who cares?

Makes me wish craptacular was a word.

CREDITS

Writer, Mike Costa; penciller, Graham Nolan; inker, Trevor McCarthy; colorist, Guy Major; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Chris Conroy and Mike Marts; publisher, DC Comics.

Superman 3 (January 2012)

Perez spends the first three or four pages recapping Action Comics. Because it seems likely someone buying Superman isn’t buying Action. Yeah, sure.

But then Perez fills the issue with content–Superman’s big action sequence isn’t even until the second half–and Nicola Scott isn’t up to the detail. Overall, the art isn’t bad. When reading a page, it seems completely passable and occasionally good. But on any closer examination, the problems become clear. And Trevor Scott’s inks seem way too sharp for this comic. With the two Scotts on art… Superman loses its previous retro vibe.

And that retro vibe was one of the comic’s pluses.

The art isn’t even the major problem though. Perez begins the comic on a narrative gimmick (a news story about Superman) and he’s never able to recover. Instead of a clear focus, the narrative jumps around.

The comic’s not offensive, it’s unpleasantly middling.

CREDITS

A Cold Day in Hell; writer, George Pérez; pencillers, Pérez and Nicola Scott; inker, Trevor Scott; colorists, Brian Buccellato, Brett Smith and Blond; letterer, Carlos M. Mangual; editors, Matt Idelson and Wil Moss; publisher, DC Comics.