The Return of TAALK Reviews:TBolts,KBAC,JLA,DD, Slingers, Madman, SW:VaderQuest
KJ Sampson
Reviewed herein:
Books bought 4/21/99:
THUNDERBOLTS #27
STAR WARS: VADER'S QUEST #3
Books bought on 4/28/99:
ASTRO CITY #17
DAREDEVIL #6
JLA #30
MADMAN COMICS #12
SLINGERS #7
left on the shelf:
BLACK WIDOW #1
AVENGERS #17
Some of you may remember an upstart comics review column last spring and
summer called "This Ain't A Library, Kid." (TAALK). Abruptly, during the
DC 1 Million crossover, I quit; mainly due to the return of school and
such. Well, I'm back, now that my schooling is nearly ended. Additionally,
though, I was inspired by an exceptionally enjoyable comic to share my
opinions once again.
So! Let me refresh readers of the basic format and grading scale, and dive
right in!
The skinny: my attempt to give a non-spoiler plot summary.
The writing: Talks about the writing quality. Duh.
The art: Discusses the art. Double duh.
ETC: wherein I comment on events, quirks and plot developments. Spoilers
often populate this section, so some may want to skip to...
The Verdict: I sum up the review and deliver a final Grade on a 4 pt.
scale:
4.0=Classic
3.0=Good
2.0=Average
1.0=Crap
with various permutations in between. Generally, my grades should land
within the 2.5-3.5 range. Anything lower gets dropped quickly.
Finally, I also give mini-reviews of comics I skim, but do not buy.
OK, on with the reviews.
Books bought 4/21/99:
THUNDERBOLTS #27
STAR WARS: VADER'S QUEST #3
Books bought on 4/28/99:
ASTRO CITY #17
DAREDEVIL #6
JLA #30
MADMAN COMICS #12
SLINGERS #7
left on the shelf:
BLACK WIDOW #1
AVENGERS #17
-------
THUNDERBOLTS #27
The skinny: As the TBolts settle in their new permanent HQ, subplots pop
out of the woodwork. Oh, and the X-Man Archangel guest-stars. And
Graviton, last seen in #17 or 18, returns with a plan.
THE WRITING: For an issue in which nothing of note happens, this book is
awfully packed. It's essentially intended as a springboard for a number of
future storylines, and it's got my appetite well-whetted for the results.
THE ART: Bagley is Bagley. Although Carlos Pacheco's rendition of Songbird
over in Avengers Forever reassures me that a candidate for a replacement
penciler exists, this book needs for Mark Bagley to stay as long as
possible. Fortunately, Bagley is known for his long runs. :)
ETC:
--I didn't even suspect Graviton might be behind the flying teenagers.
Apparently, he's expanding his vision, as per Moonstone's suggestion.
Wonder how she'll react.
--The corruption of Jolt has set in, based on her reaction to having to go
to school. Just as Moonstone intended, she's become quite the bitter young
lady, and potentially as much a sociopath as some of her teammates. The
main piece of evidence is her willingness to jump to the defense of her
teammates, even when they're wrong. She's like a little gang member,
really.
--Songbird seems to have reached a new balance between Melissa and Mimi,
making her more unpredictable than ever.
--Atlas continues to be a fascinating character study. but I can't figure
out this whole Dallas Riordan deal. And now Man-Killer shows up again,
sort of. What is the deal with Atlas and redheads, anyway?
--But the main event of this issue, and the reason why I'm back doing
reviews, is Archangel! It's plain that writer Kurt Busiek likes the
character *without* his Wolver-wings and knows how to effectively portray
him thusly without making him look like a wuss. I very much look forward
to the rest of his guest shot.
THE VERDICT: This is one of most intriguing issues yet of an intriguing
series. Month for month, you can't get better clean fun than Thunderbolts.
Grade: Very Good [3.6]
------
STAR WARS: VADER'S QUEST #3
THE SKINNY: The focus shifts to Luke on a diplomatic mission to Jazbina.
He's volunteered to rescue a kidnapped princess (and help sway this planet
to the Alliance). But betrayal is immenent on many sides.
THE WRITING: Hmm. There seems to be an awful lot crammed into this
storyline, and yet each issue breezes by too quickly. There's not a lot of
depth at this point. Also, despite the title, we don't see much of Vader
in this issue. More than anything, the shift from the jealous Rebel pilot
Jal's story hurts this issue most. His was the major story in the first 2
issues, but here he has little to do. Additionally, the subplot featuring
the cripple (forget her name) loose onCorusscant has barely developed
since issue one. It seems that there may be one too many plotlines
running through this miniseries.
THE ART: Dave Gibbons does good workmanship. Few pencillers are clearer
storytellers. In fact, in many areas, text is unnecessary and, in one
case, actually ruins a bit of potential suspense. On page 17 (?), last
panel, the droid 3DVO says outright what its earlier pause in speech
strongly suggests. This winds up destroying the following scenes' surprise
value that a simple, undialogued version of the close-up of 3DVO Gibbons
provides would have provided in spades.
ETC:
--A couple of details are wrong in this series, too. As I understand it in
the Star Wars universe, droids aren't allowed to carry weaponry or be able
to decieve their masters of their own volition. The first, being a hidden
function of 3DVO, is understood. The second shouldn't be possible. 2)
Aside from the blue color, Luke's lightsaber is the one he built for
Return of the Jedi. He was still using his father's sleeker-looking one at
this point. Shame on ya, Dave!
THE VERDICT: This is the sort of Star Wars series--ones that are actually
in inter-movie continuity--that I pay attention to. However, this issue is
by far the weakest yet. Hopefully it'll pull out without crashing like Jal
did in #1. Grade: Slightly Above Average (thanks to the clear art) [2.2]
------
ASTRO CITY #17
THE SKINNY: The Mock Turtle, a supervillain on the run (is there any other
kind?), tells his life story and how he came from Britain to Astro City in
this divergence from the main Steeljack arc.
THE WRITING: As always, Kurt Busiek delivers a top-notch tale. Although
I'd have preferred more of a continuation of Steeljack's story from his
point of view, I'll take this Mock tale (:).
THE ART: And as usual Brent Anderson and Co. do a bang-up job on the art,
as well. No problems.
ETC
--I like how the Mock Turtle himself notes that we all saw Lucia's true
colors from the start. I also liked his desperate flight; I'm a total
sucker for a good chase scene.
THE VERDICT: To put it simply and wonderfully, Astro City is back. Grade:
Very Good [3.4]
------
DAREDEVIL #6 (or 386)
THE SKINNY: Recovering from the tragedy of last issue, DD finally homes in
on the villain of the piece, whose identity is quite familiar to
Spider-Man fans.
THE WRITING: I *really* like Kevin Smith's Daredevil run. However, it
was not until this issue that I even bought a single issue of it.
Confused?
See, I flipped through the 1st issue. I was somewhat intrigued, but turned
off by the quasi-Christian slant of this baby being a "new savior." It
smelled like another unbiblical portrayal of God, Jesus, etc. The next two
issues only seemed to increase my unease (and confirm my intial decision
to stay away) with Foggy's infidelity, Matt's attempted infanticide, and
Karen's bombshell. From that point on, I remained ignorant of the story,
as copies got snatched up too quickly for me to keep up.
However, issues #4 & 5 were key turning points. The former introduced
Bullseye to the story (bringing much-needed dose of ANTI-surrealism),
began to settle some of Matt's faith issues. The latter pitted the two
archfoes against each other and pinned DD's mental problems on purely
corporeal causes, not some heaven/hell war.
Now, in #6, DD goes into action FOR REAL. He hasn't been this cool since
Miller or the best of Nocenti's run. Even better, he, along with us,
begins to see past the smoke and mirrors to the reality. And once I got to
the last few pages, and the villain stood revealed, all the mess Smith
took us through was forgiven. Indeed, I was very gratified to see this
villain used so chillingly.
THE ART: This was the only reason I was at all interested in the DD
relaunch to begin with. Kevin Smith meant little to me, since I'm not a
fan of his films and his comics work was zilch. Quesada, though, was an
old favorite from the Azrael series. Unfortunately, his work on #1 wasn't
quite enough to sway me. Now that I'm hooked, I must say that the art will
keep me here even after Smith's run.
I'm not totally pleased with the art, of course. Q has ever opted more for
flash than solid storytelling, though he's certainly mastered enough of
the latter to get by. Also, his DD, in this issue, at least, looks a
little scrawny. The hero's build should be a little greater. Still, Q & P=
good-lookin' comics.
ETC:
--If any one thing besides the villain revealed sold me, it was page 11.
The billy club through the window, "Heard every word," were a totally
fanboy-gratifying pair of moments. Yeah, this is the real Daredevil, here.
THE VERDICT: Once again, I'm coming late to the bandwagon, but at least I
managed to find all the back issues for only about $20. Daredevil, a
character and comic marked by brief highs and seemingly interminable lows,
is on a peak once again. Grade: Near-Classic [3.8]
------
JLA #30
THE SKINNY: The battle of genies continues on multiple fronts; on Earth,
in the Watchtower, in the 5th dimension, and the astral boundary.
THE WRITING: Gahhh! Others have complained about the Rock of Ages cramming
too many concepts into one story arc--the Darkseid story and Injustic Gang
plots could and should have stood apart and alone. But it's infinitely
worse in this "Crisis Times Five!" The Triumph plotline, while
interesting--heck, it's the most interesting element *of* the arc--is not
really getting the sort of attention it needs. Cap and GL in the 5th
dimension just seems like an excuse to be weird for weirdness' sake. The
duel of the genies hinges too much on the new Johnny Thunderbolt, who I
wish would just die of potty-mouth poisoning. Never has a character
annoyed me so. The astral plane sequences with Zauriel and Alan Scott are
OK, but not enough to make up for the other weaknesses. I'm starting to
mark time until Waid's runs.
THE ART: Porter, too, has been getting on my nerves. A fellow Usenetter
commented that Porter seems to use action figures to do his poses. I am
positive, now that I've looked at his work with this in mind, that he has
one of those poseable wooden figure thingies in sight at all times. He
does seem to be improved with this issue, but that might only be because
so much of the issue is in the 5th dimension and thus is *supposed* to
look wrong. On the down side, Porter can't seem to keep this J.J. kid
consistent at all.
THE VERDICT: As I said, I'm basically marking time. Lately, though, I
wonder if I should even try to stick out the rest of Morrison's run. While
I've generally enjoyed the "event movie" format of the series, I think
Morrison strains the suspension of disbelief way too thin. Grade: Slightly
above average [2.2]
----------
MADMAN COMICS #12
THE SKINNY: At long last, Frank and friends return. Frank's got some of
his memories as a murderous hit man back, he has a falling out with most
of his associates, and he sets out to find his surrogat father figure.
THE WRITING: Allred's establishing a new status quo here by severing much
of Frank's supporting cast. That's fine by me; I didn't care much for
Mott, for instance. There seems to be a return to the spirit of the
original black-and-white series, minus the weird, horror edge. That's also
fine with me. Still, Madman's on parole as a title to buy.
THE ART: Allred's art is still strong, and Laura's colors really make it
pop. No problems there.
ETC:
--Joe seems a *mite* possessive there...scary...
--I totally understand Frank's rage at Dr. Flem. I wonder if there's more
to Flem's attitude than mere scientific obsession.
--Frank's memories of his past evil explains some of the wicked stuff he
did in the original 3-issue series.
THE VERDICT: It's good to see Madman back after Allred's detour. Maybe
it'll be back on track, too. Grade: Above Average [2.5]
--------
SLINGERS #7
THE SKINNY: One of the team is nabbed out of costume by giant mutant rats
led by the Griz, a *humanoid* mutant rat who rules all manner of giant
mutant vermin.
THE WRITING: This is a new title for me. I started with last issue, which
sort of reintroduced the team at its new status quo and offered a
character study. It was fascinating, and a back issue hunt showed the
previous issues to be similarly interesting. A totally green team of
heroes--imagine that. This issue doesn't quite do the job, as
characterization takes a bit of a back seat to poor action scenes and a
boring villain (where's the motivation?). Plus, those captions are damn
annoying.
THE ART: Worse, the quirky Chriscross art is missing. This cuts out a lot
of the book's charm as well. But at least Cassie looks somewhat more human
now. And the art isn't bad, in any case. The layouts are little busy and a
few perspectives could be sharpened up.
ETC:
--Cassie is kinda ruthless with those powers of hers. And who's she really
like anyway? She's all *over* Rico last issue; she turns into a green-eyed
monster over Eddie this time. What happens when Ritchie reappears?
--Speaking of whom, he's a bit too absent lately. These single-page
interludes aren't enough for any real development, which I desperately
want to see in the character.
--Shouldn't Eddie's hand be "crinkled" even when unconscious as on page
11, where it's totally relaxed?
THE VERDICT: It seems as though a lot of Slingers' positives came out of
the intial story arc. This issue sees a downturn. Hopefully, things will
improve within the next month or so and we'll finally see the *entire*
team interacting. That's where this book's potential lies; yet, it hasn't
*been* a foursome since the #0 issue. Grade: Average [2.0]
--------
left on the shelf:
BLACK WIDOW #1: Flipped through it. The writing seems up to Devin K.
Grayson's general level (which tends to be high). The art is simply
excellent. However, this one shall remain in my box until further issues
to see if the story remains interesting to read.
AVENGERS #17: Only noted this one because Warbird's in her original Ms.
Marvel outfit. Somehow it doesn't look half as good as it used to; the
long hair completely throws it off. I can't comment on the story since it
didn't interest me. The art, which did a good impression of Perez last
month, seems to have slipped a bit.
-------------------------------
Khari J. Sampson (Rurouni KJS)
"The opposite of love is selfishness."
"Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king."
--1 Peter 2:17