Walking on the Moon

Will Eisner’s The Spirit #28, Uslan, DeSnato, Justiniano, Wong. I’ve been enjoying these fellows’ take on The Spirit, but this issue didn’t have the winning character interaction from the core team that’s been holding up the short run. I found the plotting a little convoluted – a lot of exposition to introduce – and the art had some gratuitously odd perspective that didn’t improve the storytelling or look convincing. Still any issue that includes the line “Ellen, they poisoned my ketchup…” has something redeeming in it.

Glamourpuss #7, Sim. Honestly, too much unfunny parody, too little meticulously rendered comics history. Definitely playing away form the series’s strength from my perspective.

Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #3, Morrison & Stewart. An ending of sorts for Seaguy. In keeping with the rest of the series, it’s not so much that Seaguy’s changed his world, but he’s definitely done what he can, and emerged different. The art’s still gorgeous and the odd world is consistent throughout. If you liked the other issues, you’ll like this one. I may be an old softie, but I thought the closing sequence was very sweet.

Secret Six #10, Simone, Scott, Hazlewood. After the last couple issues of one-shots, we’re back to a longer arc. Simone reminds us that these folks are bad guys, even with their redeeming qualities, by having them accept a job from some very bad guys. Beneath this rollicking adventure series is a very interesting look at good and evil, with very sympathetic but flawed characters asking hard questions. And it’s a smart, rollicking adventure. With art perfectly tuned to the story, and to communicating the characters internals. If you can stomach super-stuff at all, this should be on your reading list.

Capsules for The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, The Audacity of Hope, and The Kite Runner are up on Bell, Book, and Candle.

My capsule review of William Shatner’s autobiography, Up Till Now, is up on Bell, Book, and Candle.

Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #2, Morrison & Stewart. Seaguy continues its reign of oddness, but this issue ends on a hopeful note – unlike any of the others. I continue to like the magical world Morrison & Stewart have created, even with its tone of melancholy and conspiracy. I fully expect to have my spirit crushed along with Seaguy’s next issue, but if so, it will have been intentionally crushed by some good writing and Stewart’s clean beautifully laid out art.

Secret Six #9, Simone, Scott, Hazlewood. Another enjoyable genre tour de force. There’s all the fun of having Blake, Bane, and Ragdoll working a simple mission together, along with more exploration of the series’s subtext of the differences between heroes and villains. Simone’s dialog is funny and also manages to tell us a lot about these characters and expand on the theme all at once. The plot conceit that this is hung on is the idea that Batman’s dead and that someone will be replacing him – perhaps even Catman or Bane. As obvious as it is on the surface that these two aren’t heroes, Simone actually does a few really nice things with the idea. First, at no point does anyone deliver the speech about why these guys aren’t qualified; she shows us conclusively that it’s not the case, but no one preaches at us. She also makes it clear why they want to be Batman without beating us over the head. Finally, she shows us very specifically and very clearly not only why these guys won’t be heroes today, but why they won’t be heroes any time soon despite their earnest desires to play that role. None of this is done in the preachy “Very Special Episode” kind of writing that plagues these sorts of things.

All that and Ragdoll making every phrase sound perverted and some serious Nightwing beefcake. Something for everyone.

My capsule review of Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Death by Black Hole is up on Bell, Book, and Candle.

My review of The Ghost Map is up on Bell, Book, and Candle.

Not many this week, and they’re really from last week, but here we go.

Captain America #49, Brubaker, Ross, Magyar, D’Armata. We spend an issue with Sharon Carter tracking the aftermath of her difficult time with the Red Skull and company. It’s good to see the fallout of living in the Marvel Universe, and Brubaker handles it well – except maybe the contrived trigger that jogs her memory. A few hints at the future seem to be littered about this issue as well. Next issue seems to be another big look at Bucky and his new responsibilities. I hope that’s not the case.

Incognito #3, Brubaker and Phillips. Unlike Captain America, which seems to be slowing down from it’s zippier start, Incognito keeps things moving at a breakneck speed. Characters come and go, as Zack’s situation goes from bad to worse with predictable rapidity. While the plot’s fun to watch, it’s really the well executed noir tropes overlaid on the super-hero world that are the reward here. Good fun. I wandered over to Criminal and enjoyed that as well.

Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #1, Morrison and Stewart. I think Seaguy is genuinely good comics that takes aim at the current storytelling tics with a dead-on satire that exaggerates their failings well beyond the threshold of human hearing. Unfortunately when the failings include a hopeless tone and stagnation it’s hard to read. The hopelessness clings to every panel of Morrison and Stewart’s genuinely wonder-filled world creating a grueling congnitive dissonance. I think it’s well worth the time, but I can understand not reading it.

My review of George R. Stewart’s Names on the Land is up on Bell, Book, and Candle.

Captain America #48, Brubaker, Guice, Ross, D’Armata. I wasn’t as taken with this arc as I have been with the others, but that’s because most of the arcs under Brubaker have been both significant to the characters and well done. The point of this arc seems to be to establish the new status quo. It was well done, but a little drop off in pace. Still, Brubaker’s Namor is a thing of beauty. He manages to capture the Sub-Mariner’s egotism and lust for adventure perfectly: “Finally.. something worth fighting.”

Top Ten Season 2 Special #1, Cannon and Daxiong. A little aside looking at Girl Two’s place in the world after her stint in the precinct. Cannon’s developing a real feel for writing these characters and Daxiong’s art and storytelling are well done. There’s a lot to like here.

Ignition City #1, Ellis & Pagliarani. Ellis’s distopyian sci-fi is solidly built and well executed. This issue sets up the environment and the characters well, but the big question is whether I’ll care about them come issue 3. Pagliarani’s art seems to do the job, other than one panel transition where a car door disappears, but doesn’t seem to be adding too much. I’ll stick around to find out if these characters turn into people, but this isn’t the grabber that Anna Mercury was.

Will Eisner’s The Spirit #27, Uslan, DeSanto, Justinano, Wong. I’m rather enjoying the new team’s update of the Spirit. They’ve grabbed the essence of these characters in a way that the previous team didn’t (for me) while not trying to clone the Eisner characters. I find myself liking the overall picture enough to overlook some of the rough parts of the execution. And there are a non-trivial number of such flaws: the gibberish frequency and the gratuitious Wii scene to name a pair. Still there’s something about how they’ve grabbed the essence of the characters and their zest for writing and drawing that carry me through. I can’t say this is great comics, but it draws me in.

Doktor Sleepless #12, Ellis & Rodriguez. The good Doktor’s plot is beginning to emerge from the fog. Assembling it from the points of view of the characters Ellis has been introducing over the last couple issues is pretty effective. Those introductions slowed the flow somewhat, but this issue seems to be picking the momentum back up. I still have trouble determining who’s on what team in Rodriguez’s crowd shots, which can make untangling the big picture more challenging than it needs to be. At least the major female characters are all color-coded, though Rodriguez never misses a chance to pose them rather than show them as real.

Secret Six #8, Simone, Rodriguez & Bit. This is a little filler issue, but again real fun. Dave Sim once made a comment to the effect that throwing 3 of his characters into a closet and letting them interact could fill out an issue. That’s what we get here as Deadshot and Jeanette double date with Scandal and a new interest. It’s all good fun and we maybe learn a little about the Six as well. There’s some less enjoyable filler featuring Ragdoll and a preview of a Power Girl series that didn’t do much to grab me. But the front story in Secret Six remains a highlight for me every month.

Glamourpuss #3-6, Dave Sim. Apparently my comic shop didn’t pull these for me and doesn’t buy enough for me to see them on the racks. But I have my ways. And Glamourpuss is worth buying, just for the mind-blowing oddness of the thing. I still don’t think much of Dave’s fashion magazine parodies in and of themselves – a little too blunt – but there’s something about interspersing them with the detailed history of comics photorealism that makes the whole package irresistible to me. And, make no mistake, that history and analysis is absolutely fascinating. Sim’s great passion for the material, considerable research, and unique artist’s viewpoint make his insights well worth reading, even for a dilettante like myself. Go buy a couple of these for me, to keep it on the shelves.

Hey, these are close to on time.

Top Ten Second Season #4, Cannon and Ha. This was downright good. The characterization is all excellent and consistent, both internally and with the earlier season. The art is also a continuing delight. I recommend this if you enjoyed Top Ten. And if you haven’t read Top Ten, you should.

Saga of the Swamp Thing #21, Moore, Bissette, and Totleben. This is a re-issue of the point at which Swamp Thing stopped being a run-of-the-mill horror title and became a whole new mixture of magic, wonder, horror, and romance. Everything holds up remarkably well, especially the unique and expressive Bissette and Totleben art. Moore’s writing is well known and justifiably praised (often by me), but the spooky images and innovative layouts that defined the art on this run are already there. It’s a great read and a historical moment available for a buck. Grab one.