Three Comics That I Read So That You Didn't Have To
1. Doom Patrol #9 - This comic had an AWFUL first issue. The kind of first issue that made you think, "Did they never read a first issue of a comic before?" However, I found the next two issues to be real fun, enjoyable super hero stories. And I think Byrne's art has been good on the series. Nevertheless, as the series has progressed....it has gotten soooo dumb. And the dialogue! Oh lord, the dialogue! When I saw that Will Pfeiffer was scripting the Demon series, I was thrilled. I know some people think that Byrne's dialogue has always been a bit sketchy...but I never had a problem with it. THIS comic, though....lordy lord lord, it is bad. It is the most stilted dialogue I have seen in a comic since the early days of Stormwatch and Brigade. The art is still nice.
This issue features Metamorpho. It is supposed to be a surprise though, and I guess Byrne is working under the impression that we have never read a comic before, which is nice, I suppose. But in THAT case, why make it super obvious to those who know who Metamorpho is? Why not put us on the same level as those who do not know who Metamorpho is? I get the idea of making comics appealing to new readers...but ONLY new readers (let's forget the silliness of the position that Doom Patrol #9 is going to be some reader's first comic ever)?!? Didn't like that.
And the dialogue was awful.
The art was nice.
2. Tomb Raider #50 - Actually, you probably DO have to read this comic, because you will never believe me when I say it was well-written. Dan Slott came in, and wrote (BY FAR) the best Tomb Raider story I have ever read. It was funny and clever, and wrapped up the series wonderfully for a guy who came in on the LAST issue! The art was cheezy...but the story was very good.
3. Robin #135 - What might have actually been a good action-packed issue was killed by some of the worst art you're going to see in awhile...and this was an IMPROVEMENT over his art in the previous issue! In last issue, Scott's pencils looked like a bunch of random circles and lines, only vaguely connected. This issue is an improvement over that, but not by much. Robin fights a young female archer. It is a well-written fight...just poorly-drawn.
There....I did my part, now you folks can elucidate me....anyone out there read any of the following books so I do not have to?
- Darkness: Black Sails
- Darkness: Superman #2
- Freedom Force #2
- PVP #14
- Defex #4
- Cosmic Guard #6
- Dork Tower #30
- Queen & Country: Declassified Vol. 2 #1
This issue features Metamorpho. It is supposed to be a surprise though, and I guess Byrne is working under the impression that we have never read a comic before, which is nice, I suppose. But in THAT case, why make it super obvious to those who know who Metamorpho is? Why not put us on the same level as those who do not know who Metamorpho is? I get the idea of making comics appealing to new readers...but ONLY new readers (let's forget the silliness of the position that Doom Patrol #9 is going to be some reader's first comic ever)?!? Didn't like that.
And the dialogue was awful.
The art was nice.
2. Tomb Raider #50 - Actually, you probably DO have to read this comic, because you will never believe me when I say it was well-written. Dan Slott came in, and wrote (BY FAR) the best Tomb Raider story I have ever read. It was funny and clever, and wrapped up the series wonderfully for a guy who came in on the LAST issue! The art was cheezy...but the story was very good.
3. Robin #135 - What might have actually been a good action-packed issue was killed by some of the worst art you're going to see in awhile...and this was an IMPROVEMENT over his art in the previous issue! In last issue, Scott's pencils looked like a bunch of random circles and lines, only vaguely connected. This issue is an improvement over that, but not by much. Robin fights a young female archer. It is a well-written fight...just poorly-drawn.
There....I did my part, now you folks can elucidate me....anyone out there read any of the following books so I do not have to?
- Darkness: Black Sails
- Darkness: Superman #2
- Freedom Force #2
- PVP #14
- Defex #4
- Cosmic Guard #6
- Dork Tower #30
- Queen & Country: Declassified Vol. 2 #1
posted by Brian Cronin at 2/19/2005 11:41:00 PM
2 Comments:
I read Defex 4 for you. It's filled with exposition, in that way that makes a comic bad while implying to you that future issues might be better. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but it looks like I'll stick around through issue 6 to see how it works out.
The main problem with this issue is the way the protagonists decide to hide from the mysterious organization that always manages to find out where they are. They hide by....going about their normal lives and pretending nothing has happened. Yeah, the powerful organization that tried to capture them will never think to look for them AT HOME!
The story is that one of the characters decides to track down information about everyone else to find out which one might be betraying them. So you get a few issues of backstory for everyone. We learn that everyone has had an unusual childhood (serious abuse, growing up in a cult, being a super-genious, etc), some teen angst, and a current secret (like drug use). There's also a plug for the Constantine movie that caught me by surprise. (What's it doing there? I can't imagine that Warner paid for it, so I guess that the authors thought this would make the story seem "cool" and "plugged in" to today's youth culture. Or something.)
Oh, and you learn who's been betraying the team. The only thing surprising about the last-page reveal is that they apparently expected it to be a surprise, even though the traitor's identity was telegraphed pretty clearly in an earlier issue.
Wow, that made it sound bad. Now I feel stupid for saying that I was going to keep reading through issue 6.
Nevin
Ha...I am sorry the review brought up bad memories, Nevin.
Thanks for the heads up, though!
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