Scouring out the weekly singles scene … in comics!
For the middle installment of three solid days of SERIOUS ISSUES, we turn to recent offerings from DC Comics.
ACTION COMICS #848-853 (DC) Hey, ACTION COMICS, you’re really breaking my balls here. I started buying this title again because SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE director Richard Donner started writing for it, and the story arc has been a phenomenal return to Supe’s roots. But there are constant interruptions.
For example, just as Gen. Zod announced that the Kryptonian child Superman has been talking care of his child – in addition to releasing a plethora of villains from the Phantom Zone – we’re left with a cliffhanger that wasn’t picked up for three damn issues!
First, we have Superman fighting a lame villain who is powered by a religious fanatic’s prayers (ooh, edgy!), and #850 was a double-sized celebration of 850 issues of ACTION. Okay, that’s all well and good, but I was just about to cancel my ACTION subscription when, in #851, the Donner storyline resumes, and it’s an all-out fiesta de accion! It even ends with another cliffhanger, this time with the threat of an all-new Superman Revenge Squad hanging over Superman – so next issue’s gonna be the balls, right?
Wrong! No, instead of continuing the story, #852-853 are wholly lame, wholly unreadable tie-ins to DC’s overplayed and overbaked COUNTDOWN event, both of which – ugh – feature Jimmy Olsen in his “wacky powers” persona. Donner or not, I think I’ve had it.
ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #4-5 (DC) So while Superman may be disappointing, I finally got around to pick up the Frank Miller and Jim Lee ALL-STAR title – ALL-STAR being DC’s equivalent of Marvel’s ULTIMATE, free of continuity – featuring a seriously whacked-out-of-his-freaking-gourd Batman dispensing his patented brand of brutal justice. This almost could be considered the Batman that grows to be the one in THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, with a guesting Superman making like a goody-goody prick and Wonder Woman becoming the ultimate man-hating bitch. If you’re a Batman fan, this is the book you should be reading.
On the other hand, I picked up a copy of BATMAN #666, and I am lost as fuck. Is this a hoax? An imaginary tale? Batman has a son? Is this the future? Why the trench coat? And did I just see an ape in a clown costume named “Jackanapes”? Please, someone besides Wikipedia fill me in.
WILDSTORM’S HORROR TITLES (WildStorm) DC’s sub-imprint is making a nice little niche for itself with the New Line horror-film franchises like Freddy, Jason and Leatherface. The first story arc of FRIDAY THE 13TH concludes in #6, and like a typical Jason movie, not too much except blood-splattering gets done. A little bit of a letdown, but that’s aleved with the next arc.
The two-parter “Pamela’s Tale” – the origin of Jason’s mommy – does a good job of filling in the blanks on the early life of Pamela and baby Jason, as does the li’l Leatherface one-shot “About a Boy,” featuring a teenaged Leatherface torturing a schoolmate who made fun of him for his nasal lackings. This is followed by another one-shot, “Cut!,” taking place in present day and doing a neat little job of tying in the TEXAS CHAINSAW family from the ‘70s into characters reminiscent of the ones in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2, right down to the chili cook-offs. This is a history I definitely hope they explore more. As for A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET #8, although I like seeing teens turned into fast food, this book is taking a pretty bad downturn in both storytelling and overall quality.
And please, don’t forget to pick up these perennial SERIOUS ISSUES faves:
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #3-5 (DC) This is DC’s SHE-HULK: just an all-around fun book that makes comics an actual joy to read. A half-cyborg Batman and the new Blue Beetle take on the Fatal Five, while Supergirl and Lobo get into all kinds of wacky mix-‘em-ups. And don’t forget Adam Strange and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
JONAH HEX #19-22 (DC) I hope you know the Jonah Hex drill by now: Just pick up the damn things!
Tomorrow: The return of Nexus! Horror from the Crypt-Keeper and Gene Simmons! And, um, Nicolas Cage! It’s all the indies! –Louis Fowler
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, I really enjoy this blog, both the comics portion and the book reviews. My question
is: I am just getting into horror comics. I especially like the anthology E.C. type stuff.
Are there any resources on the web that carry these comics that you talk about here?
Amazon has some of the bigger stuff like the EC reprints and Hack/Slash but not much
in the way of individual issues. Also, are there any more websites or blogs dedicated
to horror comics or give a history of them or anything? Thanks!
I’m kind of curious myself. If you find one, let me know. There used to be a decent horror comics blog out of the UK at http://horrorcomics.wordpress.com/ but it hasn’t been updated in more than a year.