8/10 Comics: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Simple enough concept - three good things, three bad things, and three ugly things each week.

Spoilers ahead!!!

THE GOOD

I was really impressed with the Winter Men #1. The story, about what happens years later to a group of Cold War super soldiers, is interesting enough, with a good sense of noir. The lead character, in particular, is quite intriguing (we first meet him as his face is frozen to the ground as he has spent the night sleeping in the park).

However, it is John Paul Leon's art that really shines in this comic.

It is truly amazing work.

His art captures the mood, tells the story, creates character...it does it all.

Great, great job by Leon.

This week's Fables revealed who the Adversary was, and sadly, it was the character that people have been pretty much expecting it to be for the last year or so, which was kinda disappointing.

However, the story in the issue was handled so well, with the dialogue between Little Boy Blue and the character, and the backstory of how he became the Adversary?

SO good.

Iron Man #4. I have given Ellis some crap about the fact that the issues have not read like full comic books, but more like really good HALVES of comics.

Not this issue.

This issue was good from start to finish, and Ellis also managed to come up with a dramatic plot change that is TOTALLY in keeping with the character, while still being such a freaky, whacked out idea.

I was so impressed.

And what a great cliffhanger.

THE BAD

Here is a conversation I just had with a comic book.

"Rann/Thanagar War #4!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO DAVE GIBBONS!?!?! He is such an awesome writer, but as soon as he began working on you, his writing has become tedious and exposition-heavy, with events seemingly making sense only if you know every minute detail of the DC Universe, and even though I DO pretty much know every minute detail of the DC Universe I am STILL bored by the story!! Why have you turned Gibbons against us, Rann/Thanagar War?!!? WHY?!?!?"

The comic was so stunned by my impassioned pleas that it said nothing.

I did not like Necromancer #1, but I will give it some credit. Joshua Ortega is really committed to the idea, and is willing to really try something here. I do not think that he succeeds in making this a good comic, but I admire his ambitions with this project. You can tell that he is really devoted to the story of this teenage girl necromancer.

I am not a fan of Manapul's art either.

Another book where I have to give credit for the devotion of the creator is Breach, which has some of the coolest art you will see from Marcos Martin.

The story, though, is just not my cuppa.

I enjoyed Superman's appearance, as he shows an interesting side to his character, the side where he is concerned that he prejudged Breach too harshly.

However, Breach's reactions to Superman just did not ring true. I understand what Bob Harras wants us to think his thought processes were, but it just did not ring true to me.

In addition, I really am not interested in the rest of the cast. And the rest of the cast actually appears in the book about the same amount of time as Breach himself!

So if THAT'S going to happen, the supporting cast better be damned interesting. I do not think that they are.

THE UGLY

I like Marc Sumerak's work, so I was quite distraught when I read the latest issue of Ororo: Before the Storm and saw it pretty extensively tie into the "Twelve" storyline from five years ago.

Why!?!?

Why is the comic tying into Ozymandias?! It seems so SILLY. Especially since, if you are GOING to tie into continuity, it should at least FIT, and Storm not remembering that she met Ozymandias as a child in the later issues of Uncanny X-Men when she met Ozymandias is kinda silly.

But the ugly part really comes from simply the fact that it tied into the Twelve storyline at ALL.

On a similar note, I wish to express my frustration at Action Comics tying into bigger crossovers.

Gail Simone and John Byrne were doing such a very good job over the first issues, but then they got part 2 of Sacrifice, and it was just awful.

This issue, which is tied into Villains United, Sacrifice, and every other story under the sun, is a good deal better than the Sacrifice tie-in, but still, every bit with Dr. Psycho and the Society just seemed so unneeded. I understand that Simone is currently writing Villains United, so it is not like story ideas are being FORCED upon her, but still, what impressed me most about the first two issues of Simone/Byrne's Superman was the way that it AVOIDED all the crassness of the modern DC comic book.

This issue?

It is all about that. Not to the same extent of last week's Superman #220, but enough to really drag down the work of two quality creators. Just not something I wanted to see.

Marvel Mega Morphs #1. The Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Ghost Rider and Doctor Octopus battle each other using giant morphing robots that simulate their powers.

Yes, Ghost Rider and the Hulk in big robots.

Yikes.

Ugggggggly.

Well, that's it for me!

Feel free to share your reactions of the week so far, good, bad or ugly!

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