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Comic Book Review: The Wake 1

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06012013
Zombos Says: Good (but predictable so far)

DC Comics doesn't send me books to review on a regular basis, but I do enjoy receiving them when I do. Of late, I've a mind to not review a comic series until it has made its run: issue to issue can be spotty, but taken as a whole reading experience, a series can play out rather well. So I tend to wait until I've gotten through all the issues, single or in a collection, before forming a critical appraisal. But when I receive unsolicited issues for review I, of course, try to review them as soon as possible. One of two things usually happens: DC's trying to ramp up support for a memorable endeavor or they're trying to shore up as much support as possible for an iffy one.

The first issue of Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy's The Wake (a 10 issue series) isn't iffy. The art is full of well-angled scenes and interesting characters, although Murphy does have a fondness for straight lines and sharp noses and chins that's a little excessive; but his lively faces and movie-scene storyboarding stands out even more.

The story ends on a high note with a surprise revelation that eggs you on to pick up issue 2, but the usual shadows of Homeland Security Departments dabbling in secret undertakings, and a Dr. Archer who, with her soured past history, is reluctant to get involved when they need her expertise, keeps this issue at the let's-see-where-Snyder-takes-it stage. She is urgently needed because she specializes in cetological vocalizations and there is a recorded whale song that sounds suspicious–and which also reminds her of a catastrophe she hasn't quite gotten over yet–sparking Homeland Security's interest in getting her involved.

Other people Homeland Security has brought onboard for the investigation include Dr. Marlin, who's written  Legends of the Ocean–and what a coincidence, Dr. Archer has read it!–Meeks, the standard-plot-equipped anti-social type who has apparently crossed paths with Dr. Archer beforehand–not in a joyous way–and running the secret show, Agent Astor Cruz, who is, true to form, revealing those secrets only when needed.

Who do you think will die first?

The story proper starts 200 years earlier, our present time, give or take the Carnaby Street clothes and hairstyle of Dr. Marlin, and the first 4 pages tease us with the 200 years later aftermath. There's a 100,000 years ago teaser too, but that ties to the last page's thing revelation. Snyder has a lot going on so he has a lot of explaining to do. Hopefully he does it well in the next 9 issues.

Comic Book Review: Constantine 2
Dead In the Streets

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0004212013Zombos Says: Good

The foldout cover is not the only good thing about the continuing saga of John Constantine in issue 2 of Constantine; the Spectre pops in to pass judgement on all those nasty happenstances that follow Constantine around, like the escalating body count of his too-close associates who tag along with him. Briefly.

It’s a close shave, sure, but Constantine gets into more of a lather with bad people itching to piece together Corydon’s compass. More sinister mayhem ensues, but the issue’s 20 pages come a wee short of a pint, so you’ll easily wet your whistle, but keep thirsting for more story. Still, the art is consistently appealing and Constantine’s consistently unyielding in his steadfast refusal to ignore the sh*t rolling downhill along with him. Man’s got nerve: must be the trenchcoat. How can you not act self-assured and hard as nails when dressed in a trenchcoat?

Or carrying it along to Myanmar, anyway, since it’s too hot to wear it. Of course he manages to get knocked unconscious. Good timing, though, since he was about to light up another cancer stick. He also must fend off a certain blind sorcerer who doesn’t want to hear his jokes, and then deal with the cold, accusatory glare of the Spectre, ready to smack Constantine’s soul down hard.

The story moves fast, a tad too fast, and although the principal players are moving into their squares for the middle game to begin, more pages would have made this issue better than just good. What can I say, I’m an old comic book fan. I think 20 pages an issue is too little to tell a great story; but I’ll settle for a good one anytime.

Funny thing is I’m hooked on Constantine since his rebirth. I still think he needs more British in him, and his trenchcoat needs to look more rumpled. But Fawkes and Lemire are hitting the right tempo, and Guedes panels are an eyeful. So far this New 52 incarnation of John Constantine is keeping his Hellblazer ghost around for old time’s sake, and that’s a good thing.

Comic Book Review: Batman The Brave and the Bold 12
Trick or Treat

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340px-All-New_Batman_The_Brave_and_the_Bold_Vol_1_12Zombos Says: Very Good (for young readers)

Everything has rules, Batman. Even Halloween. — Zatanna

In Trick or Treat, Batman and Zatanna investigate a break-in at the House of Mystery on Halloween night. With only a few rolls of toilet tissue left behind, and Abel turned into deadwood, they don't have much to go on. Cain isn't much help, either, since the house's comings and goings make it impossible to determine if anything is missing. 

In this tale for the younger reader, the mystery is who would dare treat Cain and Abel this way, and what nefarious purpose is behind it? Sholly Fisch and Ethen Beavers keep the colorful action simple and fast-moving toward the solution as Zatanna resorts to magic and Batman resorts to more practical methods of investigation, with both approaches necessary.

After a couple of dead ends involving Dr. Destiny putting the moves on Zatanna, and Mr. Mxyzptlk tying the strings on both of them, the investigation forces a resolution involving a lot of good and bad supers squaring off to reveal the true villain. 

My only regret is the cover price: I wish it were a lot cheaper. I'd have loved to give this to the many trick or treaters coming to my own house of mystery on Halloween. Now, if only I could get Zatanna to show up, too.

Comic Book Review: Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E 1

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frankenstein DC comic Zombos Says: Good

Grate Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D onto Hellboy, add a little Universal Monster's seasoning, and bake until Metal Men done. Presto, you've got a dish of Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. Don't forget to garnish with a little Tokyo Pop wildness. 

The Frankenstein Monster is the top agent for the Super Human Advanced Defense Executive group. The Ant Farm is the 3 inch-sized globe the group travels the, er, globe with, at over 600 miles per hour. Frankenstein thinks the whole miniaturization process to get into the Ant Farm is rather goofy, and that's something Jeff Lemire needs to write around: the goofy factor. Metal Men goofy was good; Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E goofy may or may not be so good, but it's hard to judge it all on the first issue.

Keeping up with Lemire's imagination is Alberto Ponticelli's detailed artwork, whose splash pages and large panels are exciting and well executed where they need to be. One large panel introduces Frankenstein's new team–although he prefers to work alone–the Creature Commandos: the Wolf Man, the Mummy, Dracula, and the Creature from the Black–no, wait a minute, I'm getting it all mixed up.

The actual Creature Commandos are: Dr. Nina Mazursky, amphibian human hybrid; Warren Griffith, Werewolf; Vincent Velcoro, Vampire; and Khalis, Mummy and medic. Father introduces them to Frankenstein when a town is overrun by hungry monsters that keep on coming, no matter how many are killed. Father is the mad scientist running S.H.A.D.E. He can regenerate himself into various human forms to keep on ticking. This time around he chose the form of a Japanese schoolgirl wearing a mask around her eyes. One of Lemire's naughty fantasies perhaps? Like I said, goofy. 

This first issue is perhaps a little too ambitious: there's a lot of matter of fact oddness to accept at face value, hopefully to be fleshed out later. Lemire manages to keep his story moving forward cleanly, however, and Ponticelli's pencils alone are a treat. The tone here reminds me of the storylines you'd find in DC comics from the 1970s, and Frankenstein's manner and dress make me think of the Robert De Niro Frankenstein character.

Although purists will have to deal with the Monster being named Frankenstein, this first issue is filled with enough wild, and promising, story and art to warrant your attention.

Comic Book Review: Animal Man 1
Warning From the Red

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animal man 1 comic book Zombos Says: Good

I'm new to Animal Man and probably wouldn't have picked up any of the issues except for DC sending me a review copy for their The New 52! reboot.  I like it. I like Jeff Lemire's story more than Travel Foreman's pencils, but there's enough like to share with both.

The use of a full-text opening page is pretty daring, but it sets the tone for the story and it's lively–written as a quick, but revealing, interview with A-Man conducted by The Believer magazine. Lemire sets up the next few pages in Buddy Baker's kitchen with his family. His wife's grumpy, his daughter Maxine wants a doggie, and A-Man–or is it just Buddy B, average guy now?–isn't sure which foot or paw to put forward until his son Cliff mentions the hostage situation at the hospital. At least it gets him out of the house.

Foreman's wispy thin lines are not a deal maker or breaker for me, they're just a little too feminine when more masculine is needed. Dare I say dainty? For chrissakes this is Animal Man where talking about. Brutish, feral, big gonad animus daddy doesn't spring to my mind through Foreman's art. He seems to have a little trouble with certain head angles, but overall the emotion in each panel does come through. Then again, the nightmare sequence, colored in greys, blacks, and reds, shrieks horror! with its primal energy. So I'll sum it by saying Foreman's style is not my cup of pencils, but it still works well to enhance the story, even if I'm thinking a Neal Adams' ruggedness-styled A-Mannish approach more appropriate. 

Lemire doesn't waste any of his 20 pages and his writing style melds with Foreman's lighter touch to produce a solid read for the first issue. The interaction between Buddy's family is earnest, real, and the doubts and concerns and needs of everyone, including Buddy, makes the storyline naturally peak to the last panel, which comes as a morbid surprise adding to a growing mystery I'd want to know more about in issue 2.

Comic Book Review: Swamp Thing # 1
Raise Dem Bones

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20110908095040_001 ZC Rating 4 of 7: Very Good

Frankly, I consider DC's The New 52! reboot a brilliant, but cheesy, marketing gimmick to boost sales. It will certainly do that, but I doubted much good would come out of freshening up the staple titles that make or break the House of DC every month, so I hadn't planned on picking up any of the number one issues; until I received a review copy of Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette's Swamp Thing in the mail. Did it hit its mark? Sure did. Will I want to continue reading it? Sure will. I think you will want to, too.

Scott Snyder writes his stories by cutting between locations, situations, and people to build his plot's events. He's been damn lucky to have artists who seem to relish all that jumping around and keep up with him, but also add to his narrative in ways–framing, angles, positions of characters–he probably didn't even think of. Snyder's a very cinematically-minded writer in how he makes his stories build, and they have a completeness between issues, with clean, integral dialog, and visually important actions capping neatly at the given page length.

You get that sense of completeness reading this first Swamp Thing issue, Raise Dem Bones. We see birds dying in Metropolis, then bats dying in Gotham, then fish dying in the ocean in the space of 3 pages, switch to a disillusioned Dr. Holland doing a construction gig in Louisiana, and then visit an archeological dig in Arizona. It's the mastodon bones in the dig in Arizona that kick things into horror gear, and the 3 men who return to the dig at night get their necks all bent out of shape with what they find. Paquette doesn't really panel his art, it just wraps around and across the pages, word ballons and narrative blocks  like a rich vine. Snyder's dialog exchange between Dr. Holland and Superman, and the narrative embellishment to scenes are just enough, just right, and meld with the artwork. Or does the artwork meld with it?

Either way, this series is off to a very good start.

Comic Book Review: The Search for Swamp Thing 1

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0093_001 Zombos Says: Very Good

John Constantine smokes up a storm in the first of 3 issues for The Search for Swamp Thing. With only 20 pages to involve Batman and Zatanna, Jonathan Vankin and Marco Castiello keep Constantine moving before he can suffer from jet lag.

After the Swamp Thing sends a vibe to Constantine by way of the bloke's morning paper (try doing that on an iPad), it's a quick hop and half a pack to the Royal Botanic Gardens to commune more closely with "old lettuce-breath." The greenery takes Constantine's breath away instead, and leaves him with a spreading fungus tatoo for old time sake.

Lazy sot that he is, Constantine hooks up with Batman to do his legwork while a mobster impaled on a tree limb in a Gotham City junkyard may hold more clues as to what's making Daddy Iceburg Lettuce so petulant. In a tender moment of holding hands and frolicking in The Green's etherealness to commune with Swampy, Constantine winds up a few butts short and with a headache only Zatanna can make worse, what with their romance magic all zapped out and all, even with all that cleavage a-burgeoning (it's discretely shirted up for the issue's cover).

The art and story make Constantine a walking chimney of twitty droll wit armed with handy pocket magic spells, and keep this glummy mystery moving along briskly to the capper splash page lead-in for issue 2.

I just hope he can solve it before he finds out how much cigarettes cost here in the States and the page count drops again.