Three 5/25 Books That I Read So That You Did Not Have To
Same as always...I tell you about three comics that I did not hear a lot about this week, and then I ask you all to fill me in on comics that I did not read this week. Special DC-Only Edition This Week!
Spoilers ahead!!
Outsiders #24 - To quote the esteemed critic Greil Marcus, from his review of Bob Dylan's 1970 album, Self Portrait...
"What is this shit?"
If you are a Teen Titans reader, and you saw at the end of Teen Titans #24 that the story would be continued in Outsiders #24, but you've yet to pick up the book...DON'T!!!
Not only is it a terrible comic book, but it also has nothing to do with Teen Titans #24. Okay, maybe, like, the last page or two...but you'd figure that out in Teen Titans #25 ANYways.
In any event, the art from Carlos D'Anda did not help, but it was not the really bad part of the issue. The bad part is that Winick has done such a terrible job on this title that really, who gives a darn that Indigo is a traitor?!!?
If it had been ANY of the new Outsiders, would you have cared?
"No! Not Thunder!!!"
"I won't believe it! Grace would NEVER betray the team! I know her too well...from her...uhmm...there must have been SOME characterization about her, besides she is angry a lot and has sex with Roy!"
"If it is Shift, I am going to kill myself! He is too dear to my heart!"
These characters are awful!!
And the characters we DO like become awful when they join this book!
Has Jade exhibited a single bit of character (besides "I should be leader!") in this book? Winick did a good job with her in Green Lantern...why does he not even bother with her in this book?
Starfire is in the book, for, like, no reason.
Nightwing does nothing.
And Roy...wow....way to tear down a decent character.
In any event, these characters are so awful that I think it is next to impossible for us to really care that Indigo is a bad guy, but even if we DID, there is next to no character interaction between the characters during their fight with Indigo.
Perhaps it could be because even Winick realizes that there is nothing connecting these characters, so he just skips over stuff like "character interaction" (although we do get a nice scene where Shift threatens to kill a teammate because she talks bad about Indigo. You know, the person who was trying to kill them earlier in the issue. Sorta understandable that they'd be a bit less than understanding about her character.
In any event, there are two cliffhangers (after we finally meet up with the Titans)...one with a bunch of Superman robots (in a scene that is basically designed for those chosen few who have followed this story since Graduation Day) and a second one that shows that Luthor and Brainiac have teamed up to take down the heroes.
Not recommended (to say the very least).
Legion of Superheroes #6 - A pal of mine felt that this issue would have been a lot more impressive if Mark Waid had made Princess Projectra decide to go from being a spoiled princess into being an actual Legionnaire BEFORE she saw her planet destroyed, as it would make her motivations less transparent.
And ya know what?
I DO agree with that sentiment.
Such a story WOULD have been more impressive, I think, but I do not think that this story was poor for NOT going in that direction.
The main story is about this Legion's main benefactor, and de facto member, Princess Projectra, whose power is, well, that she is rich.
She funds the entire Legion operation, more or less, through money she mooches off her parents (who she ran off to join the Legion just to spite).
Yes, it does continue the rather odd "the Legion cannot be helped by anyone not a teen" motif Waid has going here, but I do not have a problem with it.
Eventually, Projectra's planet is attacked, and the Legion rush to save her world - but are too late. It is a really well done scene, with the franticness of the Legion really being brought out well.
Kitson's art was good enough, I thought.
I REALLY liked the backup story's art, though, by Scott Iwahashi, in an interesting story giving us background info on the Legion's "Big Bad."
Good issue overall, I thought.
Recommended!
Flash #122 - I just did a quick check.
The Flash ran fast on 5 of the 22 pages (and one of the pages was in one panel out of 8).
The book is about a dude who runs really fast.
And he runs really fast on less than a QUARTER of the pages.
Seems kinda silly to me.
In addition, it seems silly to me to retcon Mark Waid and Devin Grayson's work on the Trickster to be "the Top messed with his mind."
Heck, the whole "the Top messed with their minds" plot seems silly to me period.
In any event, in this issue, the Top reverses the process he used to make the Rogues go good, but Wally manages to revert (maybe) the Piper.
Captain Cold ends up killing the Top, and Ashley Zoloman learns who the mother of Captain Boomerang's kid is.
Oh, and the Reverse Flash shows up at the end.
Porter's art is getting better.
The story is not.
Not recommended!
On to the books I did not read that I would like you all to fill me in on:
100 Bullets #61
Losers #24
Golden Plates #2
Spoilers ahead!!
Outsiders #24 - To quote the esteemed critic Greil Marcus, from his review of Bob Dylan's 1970 album, Self Portrait...
"What is this shit?"
If you are a Teen Titans reader, and you saw at the end of Teen Titans #24 that the story would be continued in Outsiders #24, but you've yet to pick up the book...DON'T!!!
Not only is it a terrible comic book, but it also has nothing to do with Teen Titans #24. Okay, maybe, like, the last page or two...but you'd figure that out in Teen Titans #25 ANYways.
In any event, the art from Carlos D'Anda did not help, but it was not the really bad part of the issue. The bad part is that Winick has done such a terrible job on this title that really, who gives a darn that Indigo is a traitor?!!?
If it had been ANY of the new Outsiders, would you have cared?
"No! Not Thunder!!!"
"I won't believe it! Grace would NEVER betray the team! I know her too well...from her...uhmm...there must have been SOME characterization about her, besides she is angry a lot and has sex with Roy!"
"If it is Shift, I am going to kill myself! He is too dear to my heart!"
These characters are awful!!
And the characters we DO like become awful when they join this book!
Has Jade exhibited a single bit of character (besides "I should be leader!") in this book? Winick did a good job with her in Green Lantern...why does he not even bother with her in this book?
Starfire is in the book, for, like, no reason.
Nightwing does nothing.
And Roy...wow....way to tear down a decent character.
In any event, these characters are so awful that I think it is next to impossible for us to really care that Indigo is a bad guy, but even if we DID, there is next to no character interaction between the characters during their fight with Indigo.
Perhaps it could be because even Winick realizes that there is nothing connecting these characters, so he just skips over stuff like "character interaction" (although we do get a nice scene where Shift threatens to kill a teammate because she talks bad about Indigo. You know, the person who was trying to kill them earlier in the issue. Sorta understandable that they'd be a bit less than understanding about her character.
In any event, there are two cliffhangers (after we finally meet up with the Titans)...one with a bunch of Superman robots (in a scene that is basically designed for those chosen few who have followed this story since Graduation Day) and a second one that shows that Luthor and Brainiac have teamed up to take down the heroes.
Not recommended (to say the very least).
Legion of Superheroes #6 - A pal of mine felt that this issue would have been a lot more impressive if Mark Waid had made Princess Projectra decide to go from being a spoiled princess into being an actual Legionnaire BEFORE she saw her planet destroyed, as it would make her motivations less transparent.
And ya know what?
I DO agree with that sentiment.
Such a story WOULD have been more impressive, I think, but I do not think that this story was poor for NOT going in that direction.
The main story is about this Legion's main benefactor, and de facto member, Princess Projectra, whose power is, well, that she is rich.
She funds the entire Legion operation, more or less, through money she mooches off her parents (who she ran off to join the Legion just to spite).
Yes, it does continue the rather odd "the Legion cannot be helped by anyone not a teen" motif Waid has going here, but I do not have a problem with it.
Eventually, Projectra's planet is attacked, and the Legion rush to save her world - but are too late. It is a really well done scene, with the franticness of the Legion really being brought out well.
Kitson's art was good enough, I thought.
I REALLY liked the backup story's art, though, by Scott Iwahashi, in an interesting story giving us background info on the Legion's "Big Bad."
Good issue overall, I thought.
Recommended!
Flash #122 - I just did a quick check.
The Flash ran fast on 5 of the 22 pages (and one of the pages was in one panel out of 8).
The book is about a dude who runs really fast.
And he runs really fast on less than a QUARTER of the pages.
Seems kinda silly to me.
In addition, it seems silly to me to retcon Mark Waid and Devin Grayson's work on the Trickster to be "the Top messed with his mind."
Heck, the whole "the Top messed with their minds" plot seems silly to me period.
In any event, in this issue, the Top reverses the process he used to make the Rogues go good, but Wally manages to revert (maybe) the Piper.
Captain Cold ends up killing the Top, and Ashley Zoloman learns who the mother of Captain Boomerang's kid is.
Oh, and the Reverse Flash shows up at the end.
Porter's art is getting better.
The story is not.
Not recommended!
On to the books I did not read that I would like you all to fill me in on:
100 Bullets #61
Losers #24
Golden Plates #2
posted by Brian Cronin at 6/02/2005 02:44:00 AM
3 Comments:
Yeah, that would have been cool, Christopher.
I read Losers 24, and it was good, although I had forgotten what was going on before the beginning of the issue. I was still able to pick it up and follow it though. There's some good action, and the team has to make a decision about whether they should allow some people to die so they can find Max or if they should save them. Also, they put some hurtin' on Roque, Aisha does some ridiculous crazy acrobatic killing move, and Cougar has a really cool new sniper pose. And Jensen apparently dies, although I suspect he's going to make it. We'll see. If anybody has any idea what I'm talking about, good for you. Otherwise, you have to read most of the rest of the series just to understand.
As for Golden Plates, I bought #2 but I haven't read it yet. I really dig Mike Allred's art (and his writing, although I don't think this counts). And have I mentioned that he is from the same town as me?
See...my whole problem with this is that Waid has Jeckie have a change of heart because she's lost everything in her life _but_ the Legion.
It seemed like he was trying to force a reaction in the reader here.
Despite for her richness and privilege, yet pity for her loss.
Feh.
I would have found it more interesting if Jeckie had changed because she actually WANTED to, not because she had lost everything BUT that team that used her while she paid lip-service to them.
It's hard for me to accept this Legion as an effective team when the camaraderie seems confined to shallow things...and the deeper interactions show truly reprehensible behavior 80-95% of the time.
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