Shh... Let's Just Talk About Comics

Good Morning!

Pleasantly surprised that I'm awake, I thought I'd start the day with McDonald's breakfast and Part 1 of a crazy long comic review post. McDonald's: check.

Since there is such a huge number of comics on my desk from about three weeks of me forgetting to pick up books, or being out of town, or blah blah and the other thing, I'm just going to stick to a few select ones that I thought were just darn special.

Marvel
Realm of Kings # 1 - 9/10
Invincible Iron Man # 20 - 7/10
Dark Tower: Fall of Gilead # 6 - 9/10
Dark Tower: Battle of Jericho Hill # 1 - 8/10

DC Comics
Blackest Night # 5 - 7/10

Image Comics
Invincible Presents: Atom Eve and Rex Splode # 2 - 9/10

Well I thought the ending of the War of Kings was a little anti-climactic considering there was an explosion of cosmic proportions that ripped a hole in space-time. Now I think Abnett and Lanning are on to something kinda cool with Realm of Kings. If the embodiment of the 616 Universe of Marvel is Eternity, the embodiment of whatever universe Quasar got sucked into must be really weird. I mean, it's an organism. The universe is an organism. I use the word twice because literally when you see this place through Quasar's eyes it looks like a massive expanse of rotting organs mushed together. It makes me wonder how that universe even exists, but then I remember I'm reading a comic book. I'm not sure what themes this limited series is trying to take on. War of Kings definitely stressed the importance of family, the corrupting influence power has, and the blind destruction rage and revenge can create. I think considering the corrupt aspect of this universe, Abnett and Lanning may be returning to one or two of those themes with the main series and the Inhumans tie-in. Plus, it's got these neat metal-inspired Avengers.

Okay, so I'm digging what Matt Fraction is doing with Iron Man. It's like a mini reboot of the series, taking into account of course that his entire run was a reboot of the old series, which I'll admit, angered me a bit because I loved Director of SHEILD. Anyway, it was obvious that Tony Stark wouldn't just kill himself or leave himself in a persistent vegetative state without a contingency plan in case the world needed its smartest man back. It strikes me as a little odd though that everyone is jumping the gun on the "let's bring Tony back to life" bus. Maria Hill is a given, she slept with him. Black Widow I guess can see the use of having Iron Man around, plus I think she slept with him. This new Thor is a wildcard. I don't know anything about him. Bucky Barnes, or as I like to call him, Captain America, also could go either way. I can see why Pepper Potts doesn't want him back though. Pepper is being written much like Dr. Cameron on House was written a couple of seasons ago. She's sort of a martyr in relationships. For the most part, she's upset that Tony, the man she loves, gets to live while Happy Hogan, the man she used to love, died in a coma. Lots of drama going on very early in this new story arc, so I doubt everyone's plans will pan out. The thing that aggravated me about this issue, and it's a minor detail, is that Fraction had Stark say he doesn't believe in God. That's just dumb. He's prayed in comics before, like when Pepper asked him to pull the plug on Happy. Even my superhero reference guide to religious backgrounds describes him as "futurist." What the hell does that mean? Futurist? I'm sorry but just because he throws the word around a lot in comics doesn't make it his religion. Just because I go around saying I'm a "linguistic purist" doesn't mean the OED is my sacred text and I go to spelling bees every Sunday morning. That's just stupid.

The emotional roller coaster of the Dark Tower series continues. Even though the arc is called The Fall of Gilead, you think maybe it's a metaphorical fall. Maybe they'll make it. They'll smart kids and it looks like they have a chance... or not. Gilead burns in a wildly violent conclusion to John Farson's revenge on Roland and his ka-tet. I love what Peter David does with this book. The ongoing theme seems to be that no matter how much you prepare, no matter what kind of passion you have, everything in the world can die. There always seems to be a bigger fish out there to ruin Roland's life even more. He couldn't hold on to Susan Delgado, he couldn't hold on to Maerlyn's Grapefruit, he couldn't save his mother from herself, he couldn't save his father and now he fails to protect Gilead. Any average teenager would've cussed up a storm and given up a long time ago. But persistence and perseverance seem to be his top qualities. I can admire that. It's something we all need a little of.

Just when one arc wraps up, a new one begins. The Battle of Jericho Hill starts off with the death of Farson's most effective ally, Martin Broadcloak. But even in death he can still mess up Roland's attempts to save what's left of the world. After the fall of Gilead, the world begins falling apart. The Dark Tower, a mythical place seems to hold the land together with mystical tethers. Gilead was the anchor to one of said tethers and now earthquakes rattle the ground. Roland, Aileen, Cuthbert, Alain and Sheemie, being the last survivors of Gilead, decide there's nothing left to do but go to the Dark Tower, harness what power is there and kill John Farson and his wicked master, The Crimson King, before the world falls apart. If I had to guess? They are going to fail, one of Roland's ka-tet is going to die (most likely Cuthbert, especially if Aileen softens up to him), and Roland will become even more jaded. Remember, even in the face of oblivion this kid can keep fighting. I think we all can do the same. Plus Jae Lee's amazing pencils have made a glorious return. No offense to Isanove, the characters just didn't look the same.

The Blackest Night keeps getting better and worse at the same time. I'm super stoked to see the rainbow brigade of Lanterns together at last. I think even though Saint Walker is my favorite on principal, Larfleeze is the coolest. Nekron is a pretty sweet villain, albeit a pretty cliche one. I'm still not sure what theme Geoff Johns is driving home here, not that all stories necessarily need one, but nearly every story has at least something that the reader should take from it. There's the obvious stuff like teamwork, forgiveness and letting go sprinkled throughout the series, but I think Johns can do better than just that. He's done a great job micromanaging all the characters he's using. A typical JLA event has a lot of easy to write characters and most writers fumble with just that. Johns has your average JLA cast, some JSA, Teen Titans, the Green Lantern Corps, and tons and tons of other side characters that each need some depth, and he's chosen a good few to focus on, while letting the ones who aren't necessarily distraught about the walking dead just do their thing. He made a critical mistake in my opinion. A goofy writery thing to do. I think it's awesome how he brought back Batman as a Black Lantern. I think it's awesome how Batman was used as a weapon against the JLA. I think it's super stupid that Hal Jordan and Barry Allen "just narrowly" escaped becoming Black Lanterns like the rest of the JLA when Batman attacked. You mean to tell me that Superman can't outrun a Black Ring but Hal and Barry can? I understand you have to have your main characters and that they need to see it all through to the end, but how far can you go before it's playing favorites? I already said a hundred times that Geoff Johns has been toying around with Hal and Barry too much, and I can relate. If I had a chance to write Madrox, he'd be killing Celestials and wearing the Quantum Bands in no time. It's just a tad irritating to see it. If Barry and Hal aren't Black Lanterns by the third page of the next issue, the rest of the JLA better be back to normal, otherwise I'll lose a bit of faith in Johns. Other than that, I think Blackest Night is one of the more successful events, and not just because of the hype.

Finally, Atom Eve and Rex Splode. I love this little series. It's got a bit of puppy love romance mixed with very adult themes and ridiculously violent action. How often do you see an anatomically correct head exploding? Seriously, chipped teeth, brain matter and everything. I have a soft spot for well-done prequels and this limited series fits the bill. Rex is characterized as less of a douche, and you can see where and how his conscience develops. We've already seen Eve's origin story, so her presence in the book is pretty much just as a love interest for Rex and you see the traits that they were attracted to in one another. One thing I don't mention often is dialogue (which is stupid of me since 97% of the writing in comics is dialogue), and I think Benito Cereno's dialogue is much better in Hector Plasm than in this comic. Maybe he's just trying to emulate Robert Kirkman's almost childlike style, but it isn't working to the books advantage. Better dialogue would make this book a must-buy. Right now it'll have to settle for a must-read.

That's it for this edition, stay tuned for later, I'll have Part 2 of this week's reviews. May or may not include comics! (I'll probably focus on Vacation but I'll also try to include reviews of the graphic novels I picked up at the Richmond Comic-Con a couple of weeks back.)

-Steve