Walking on the Moon

Captain America #35, Burbaker, Guice, D’Armata. I don’t know if Epting is gone for good, or if Guice is just filling in. I’d be delighted if he stuck around; I’ve enjoyed his art since he did the Mike Baron Flash restart in the 80’s.

Back in the plot, things are bubbling along nicely, with the Skull’s plan in full swing, Bucky stepping into Cap’s role, and something horrible being visited on Sharon. Tense thrilling stuff. And I’m enough of a 14-year old boy to be looking forward to Bucky wiping the floor with the Serpent Squad next issue. (Yes, that sentence was an utter joy to write.)

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #6, Palmiotti, Gray, Arlem. Lots going on this issue as the good guys wriggle in the Red Bee’s trap and help comes from an obscure hero. Well, indirectly. There’s also this ongoing Doll Man subplot that I just find distracting. The art looks much less phoned-in/photoshopped. Still a potboiler, but pretty decent.

Young Liars #1, David Lapham. Apparently Vertigo pays better than the self-publishing gig, according to the brief interview in here. It’s David Lapham in full on Stray Bullets mode. OK, not full on Stray Bullets mode; that would be Stray Bullets, but similar themes. If anything Young Liars seems a little more fast-paced. This is really a set-up, meet-the-cast issue that turns out to be reasonably enjoyable. I’ll check in again to see where it goes.

Gravel #1, Ellis, Wolfer, Caceres. So far still mostly random violence as Gravel runs down the Sigsand Manuscript, which seems to be leaving a swath of evil in its wake. So far just a random horror/adventure tale, but there are hints of a bigger picture. I’m an Ellis fan, so I’ll give him a few more issues to drag me in.

Badger Saves the World #3, Baron & Caron. This is actually getting a little better. I can’t really nail it down, but this had more of a Badger rhythm than #1 & #2. Baron’s still about as subtle as a car bomb in his characterization of Arabs, but things are moving more harmoniously now. It’s nice to see Riley (OK, Qwami) still has it and that Dr. Buick Riviera is still out there. I’m not sure I can recommend it for general consumption yet, but I’m enjoying it more.

The Last Defenders #1, Casey, Geffen, Muniz. I’ve been on kind of a Defenders kick lately – but for another post – so I picked this up. Super-hero action with Geffen’s love of the big supernatural stuff in the background. So far OK, but just OK.

The very idea that Gary Gygax is something that could die, much less that he has, seems impossible.  As they often do, the Penny Arcade guys seem to have this in focus pictorally and verbally.

We report.  You decide.

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #5, by Palmiotti, Gray, Arlem. Pacer issue. We get a few more distractions (which might be foreshadowing if this weren’t a limited series) and are shown that the Red Bee is really a baddie. Other than that, not much happens. Until the fellows over at Matching Dragoons pointed it out (link via Mike Sterling), I didn’t notice how much photoshop copying of panels was going on in this book. It’s pretty embarrassing to miss that, but I still like the art. It matches the characters world well and the copying seems to have reduced itself this issue.

Will Eisner’s The Spirit #14, Argones, Evanier, Ploog, Farmer. First issue with the new team. I’m not delighted. I really liked Cooke’s touch with these characters, keeping their essence and updating them. Evanier and Argones’s touch doesn’t seem as light. It may just be me, but having Ebony address the Spirit as “Boss” just encapsulated how much the richness of Cooke’s characterization was peeled back by the new team. Cooke’s Ebony was capable on his own; Evanier and Argones’s whines to be taken out to lunch. Characterization that was rich in the 1940’s is not rich today.

The art is much more consciously Eisner-ish – which is good and bad – and honestly I liked the action pieces very much (which is just good).

I’ll stick around, but I have plenty of old Spirit stories I can re-read if the team remains this stiff.

Grendel: Behold the Devil #5, Matt Wagner. We’re thick in the middle of things now, and it remains enjoyable. Hunter’s always so entertaining; it must be a great delight for Wagner to get to write someone so unselfconsciously amoral and egotistical. Things happen, the art’s still good, and the plot thickens. Unlike The Badger, Grendel hasn’t lost a step since the 1980s.

Reviews of Longitude, W Somerset Maugham’s fourth volume of short stories and Imperial Life in the Emerald City are up on Bell, Book, and Candle.

Badger Saves The World #2, Baron and Caron. Better, but not great. I don’t know if Badger’s changed more or I have. Plenty of old Badger tropes are in play, but I just don’t feel as much enjoyment out of the whole thing. Maybe because I’ve seen much of this before and it was fresher then. Maybe Baron’s getting crankier in his old age. I just don’t feel the sparkle here, which is a shame.

Will Eisner’s The Spirit #13, Gold & Risso, O’Neil & Templeton, Simone & Hester & Parks. A fill-in issue with short stories by the various groups above. The Glen David Gold and Eduardo Risso story is visually interesting, but ultimately muddled. When you’re trying to do a visual twist story, you need a deceptively clear artist – say David Gibbons. While I think Risso’s art is stylish, I just don’t like his storytelling. I’d buy a set of single page pin-ups from him, but his sequences require so much work out of me to follow that it breaks me out of the story.

Templeton and O’Neil’s story is, on the other hand crisp and clear. It’s just not very innovative. The writing’s perfectly clear and appropriate for the Spirit, and Templeton’s art and layouts charm, but again, there’s no spark of the new. It’s the kind of story that’s worth study rather than enjoyment; the technique’s excellent.

Of the three I liked the Simone story best. Simone’s telling a story without dialog, just icons, and the art is extra lively and expressive to make up for it. Where I found the work decoding Risso’s art distratcing, I easily tripped along with Simone’s tale. As for Hester & Parks art, even the panels where nothing in particular is happening are dynamic – almost electric. The story just rips along and, while it won’t move anyone to tears, is a thoroughly good time. In 8 pages we meet a new villain, watch dastardly deeds, watch our hero struggle, meet new allies, and see justice in the end, all while the writer and artist stretch their abilities and the medium. I think Eisner would applaud.

Captain America #34, Brubaker, Epting, Guice, D’Armata. Bucky takes up Captain America’s mantle and the Red Skull makes his move. A splash page of an issue, that’s honestly well executed, but not what I come for. We have to have this kind of issue to underscore the “return” of Cap, and sell a few extra copies to the gullible, but I’m waiting to get back to Brubaker’s pace again next issue.

Black Summer #5, Ellis and Ryp. This series is going to read better in the trades. This is all paced to be read in one breathless sitting, and reviewing discrete chunks of it is pretty unfair. Things continue to be trying for the Guns, who are surprised by Blacksmith’s team this issue. There are more revelations about Tom that will be no surprise to anyone who’s grokked that character, and Ellis holds forth some on Iraq. Honestly, the only depressing thing about the issue is the art, and there, really the coloring. Much of the issue is a fight between black-garbed antagonists in the dark. Simultaneously maintaining the dark atmosphere and letting the reader follow the action is difficult. Mark Sweeny’s the colorist here, and he could take a few cues from Captain America’s D’Armata. They’re up to similar things in these two issues, but I followed Bucky’s night fight the first time to the point where I could enjoy the visual jokes, while I had to retrace the Guns’ battle to follow the basic action. Still solid stuff, though.

Doktor Sleepless #5, Ellis and Rodriguez. I continue to enjoy this, and things are moving along at a good clip now. Having spent 4 issues introducing his world, Ellis begins to reveal some of the mysteries. An interesting, fun issue with in-world revelations (Reinhardt’s not omniscient), plot development, and another thought provoking Ellis/Sleepless rant on authenticity. Rodriguez’s art continues to be clean and tel the story beautifully. This will certainly read better in collection as well (I’m already benefiting from rereading), but I won’t be able to wait that long to see it come out.

Another for the “what century is it again?” file.

I can’t help it, I find this surreal and hysterically funny. Seen on BoingBoing.

Capsules of On The Wealth Of Nations, Dzur, and What’s The Matter With Kansas are up in Bell, Book, and Candle.

Brenda has pointed out this amazing thing.  Fortunately for me, flash 7 won’t make it work and my flash 9 player isn’t stable enough for me to lose the many hours of time this could potentially suck up.  Enjoy.