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Green Lantern Corps #42 [Review]

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Walt

Hungry Heart

Story & Words: Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller: Patrick Gleason
Inkers: Rebecca Buchman, Tom Nguyen
Colorists: Randy Mayor, Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Steve Wands
Editor: Adam Schlagman
Cover: Gleason, Buchman & Mayor and Buchman (variant by Greg Horn)
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue is mostly battle scenes, as we see the Green Lanterns (with help from the Indigo Tribe) defending Oa from the Black Lanterns. Killowog faces the Black Lanterns of recruits who try to stir up his guilt for failing to keep them alive. And the Black Lanterns reach 100% power…and prepare to Devour WILL. With things looking bleak, Kyle seizes on an idea that might just buy the defenders an edge–and sets his plan into motion. Unfortunately, an Alpha Lantern’s interference sends things in a less than desireable direction.

The ending of this issue was pretty much what I expected as the story progressed–from the moment the Alpha Lantern showed up, I had a sinking feeling…and the heroic action that resulted left me all the more sunk. The final page, seeing the body and the ring’s declaration that its Green Lantern was deceased and flying off…totally heart-breaking. Especially given WHO it was.

The action in this issue was so fast-paced that I hardly noticed the art. Where I did notice it, it didn’t seem all that bad. Gleason’s art seems much more well-suited for the alien characters; and even the cartooney aspect that usually bothers me so much didn’t really show through in this issue. The story was basically a straight-forward battle sequence followed by a fairly typical “heroic death” sequence. While significant in and of itself, it’s nothing special, and is rather formulaic in execution.

On the whole, a mostly average issue tending toward the better side for me as one who generally has not liked the visual style of the title’s artist. While the death at the end sucks, it fits in with the story, and provided me the biggest “Oh, crap!” moment since the end of Blackest Night #1. I must also applaud all involved for not letting this slip beforehand–I had no idea this was going to be the issue’s end when I bought the issue.

As usual, I certainly recommend this to anyone following the title anyway or Blackest Night as a whole.

Story: 7.5/10
Art: 6/10
Whole: 6.5/10

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Comic Reviews 2009, DC, DC Universe, Green Lantern Corps | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

R.E.B.E.L.S. #10 [Review]

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Walt

The Son & the Stars Part One

Writer: Tony Bedard
Artist: Andy Clarke
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Letterer: Swands
Asst. Editor: Rex Ogle
Editor: Brian Cunningham
Cover: Kalman Andrasofszky
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue opens with a brief re-telling of the origin of L.E.G.I.O.N. and what got characters to the current R.E.B.E.L.S. status quo. The characters deal with the ongoing conflict with Starro, and we see Dox losing control as his son is taken by agents of Starro, and the forcefield he’s created to contain Starro is endangered. As Dox and crew jump into action to deal with this, they encounter seveal Sinestro Corps members…and discover that something even WORSE is chasing the sinestros. The issue ends on a relatively high “holy crap…that’s awesome!” moment (though it was topped by this week’s ending of Green Lantern Corps #42).

The writing’s solid, and the art is good stuff. There’s a distinctive style to the visuals that sets this apart from a lot of other comics; sets it above, actually. It fits the story and gives a definite feel that adds to the narrative.

On the whole, not a bad issue. I’m somewhat familiar with the characters, mainly from giving this series a try for its first 3-4 issues. I’d dropped the book for boredom and not really caring about the characters. This issue doesn’t do much to change that…but the context of the Blackest Night tie-in makes things a bit more interesting. And the ending has me VERY interested in what comes next–all the moreso if it adds a lasting element to the status quo BEYOND Blackest Night. Didn’t take much, but this certainly out-did the Doom Patrol tie-in last week, which earns it additional credit in my sight for that alone. Not as good as the Booster Gold issue this week, or GL Corps…but still a worthy chapter of the overall Blackest Night story.

Story: 7/10
Art: 7/10
Whole: 7.5/10

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Comic Reviews 2009, DC, DC Universe, R.E.B.E.L.S. | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Doom Patrol #4 [Review]

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Walt

Dead Reckoning; The Coming of…The Clique!

DOOM PATROL
Writer: Keith Giffen
Penciller: Justiniano
Inker: Livesay
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Colorist: Guy Major
Cover: Justiniano, Andrew Mangum, Guy Major
Associate Editor: Sean Ryan
Editor: Elisabeth V. Gehrlein

METAL MEN
Plot: Keith Giffen
Dialogue: J.M. Dematteis
Art: Kevin Maguire
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Nick J. Napolitano
Associate Editor: Sean Ryan
Editor: Elisabeth V. Gehrlein

It took me 3 attempts to make it all the way through this issue. The first two, I got hung up in the main feature. At the third attempt I managed to get through the main feature, and then all the way through the co-feature with no trouble at all.

I’m not entirely sure what was going on in the main story. To my knowledge all the characters are new to me–none of them rang any bells for me. We’re introduced to a bunch of characters contextually, though to be honest–I’m not sure if those are characters that are part of the current book, or references to the previous incarnation of this title, or what.

But as standard in Blackest Night comics so far, we see dead rise to elicit emotional response from the living, the aim being to ripen a heart with strong emotion before the subject is killed to power up the Black Lanterns.

The art’s quite good, to keep it simple. Though I’m unfamiliar with the characters, there’s no trouble telling them apart nor in following the action. And nothing to the visual style gave me any pause to contemplate quality.

The story itself was not enjoyable for me. I was not interested in the concept of this Doom Patrol before, and I’m not now after reading this issue. That’s not to say the story itself is bad–it’s not–but it doesn’t appeal to me.

This reminds me a bit of my early days in reading X-Men comics: being entirely unfamiliar with the characters and having no real sense of continuity, who characters were, and so on. While the story structure seems good, it just doesn’t interest me. However, for sake of following the entire Blackest Night event, I still intend to pick up the next issue.

If Doom Patrol’s your thing, this’ll be well worthwhile I think. If not…it doesn’t seem like it’s going to–from this issue, at least–add much to the Blackest Night event. Moreso the other way around–the event’s inserting something into this title’s story.

The Metal Men co-feature has nothing to do with Blackest Night, and seems quite timeless. A group of “female” robots have been activated by an arrogant creator seeking to outdo Magnus’ Metal Men. These girlbots proclaim themselves The Clique, and stir up trouble that gets the Metal Men involved (though they were quite happy enough to begin with, shopping with Magnus for a birthday present to give Tina–aka Platinum.)

I’m somewhat familiar with Magnus from 52, as well as the Metal Men from same as well as elsewhere around the DCU. They’re hardly my favorite characters; basically a take ’em or leave ’em situation. However, something about this story kept a sense of fun about things with some goofiness and the fantastic.

I was more engaged by this story than the Doom Patrol, and while I find The Clique to be a stupid/stereotypical element, it still works overall.

As a whole, I’m not entirely satisfied with the purchase as just a comic. In addition to simply being a Blackest Night crossover issue–the first tie-in of the event that’s not a Green Lantern book or mini-series–this issue is the first of several that are part of DC’s “ring promotion,” wherein retailers could order a bag of rings for every X number of copies of this issue they ordered. This issue came with a Yellow Ring. My inner fanboy was almost giddy at receiving the ring at no additonal cost–and for sheer enjoyment of starting a collection of the colored rings, this issue was more than worth its cover price to me.

Doom Patrol
Story: 4/10
Art: 7/10

Metal Men
Story: 6/10
Art: 7/10

Whole: 6/10

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Comic Reviews 2009, DC, DC Universe, Doom Patrol | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Expectations of the Stack: November 4, 2009

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Walt

This may or may not become a regular feature with this blog, but I thought it’d be interesting to try in the short-term. This probably-weekly piece will be brief thoughts I have regarding the comics I’m looking at purchasing, based on the week’s shipping list from Diamond. If nothing else, I’ll be interested in seeing for myself how my expectations, sight-unseen, hold up to what I think of the books after I’ve read and thought on them for a bit.

Now, for the week of November 4th, 2009…

DOOM PATROL #4 (BLACKEST NIGHT)
Only reason I’m planning on getting this issue is that it’s an official Blackest Night tie-in. Also admittedly looking forward the the plastic ring that I’m hoping I’ll be able to get–they may be cheap hunks of plastic, but honestly…they’re just about the coolest promotion I can recall.

SUPERMAN WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #9 (OF 12)
Been getting this series, as with the other Superman titles. Almost seems a shame that it’s “only” 12 issues…but at the same time, better a finite-from-the-get-go series than yet ANOTHER supposedly ongoing series getting chopped hardly a year into its run. If anything of New Krypton (the planet) survives the arc, I hope they keep the numbering of this, even if they drop Superman’s name from the title…

HAUNT #2
Picked up the first issue thanks to blatent online promotion of the book. Wasn’t horrible, wasn’t wonderful. But given the “star power” behind it, I want to give it a couple more issues to grow on me…it’s got plenty of potential, and all that.

DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #899
Though I tend to complain a lot about Marvel’s numbering (among many other things), I take the numbering of this as tongue-in-cheek, and given it’s Deadpool (and the nature of the character) I actually find this series’ numbering fairly amusing. The sheer audacity of the “countdown” numbering (as if it’s gonna last the next 5 years, let alone 75-some) fits nicely. The absurdly-high number will also keep this at a higher number than any other of the longest-running and recently-renumbered Marvel books out there.

DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS #347
Speaking of numbering, I love the fact that even though they could simply start the numbering from scratch on these books/concepts, Boom is keeping the old numbering and CONTINUING these Disney books. However, I certainly hope this does NOT have some 2-part cover split across editions of the same issue. I don’t like variants to begin with, but so long as I can get a copy with the cover I prefer of what’s out there, I’ll simmer in relative silence.

All in all, looks to be a decently-small week for me. Also one of the most diverse weeks, with 2 DC books, an Image book, a Marvel book, and a Boom book. Most weeks I seem to be all-DC with maybe one exception, if any.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Blackest Night: Titans #3 [Review]

Posted on November 1, 2009 by Walt

“When Doves Cry”

Written by: J. J. Krul
Art: Ed Benes
Inks: Scott Williams & Ed Benes
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Letters: Rob Clark Jr.
Assoc. Editor: Adam Schlagman
Asst. Editor: Rex Ogle
Editors: Eddie Berganza & Brian Cunningham
Cover: Benes, Rob Hunter, & Rod Reis (variant by George Perez)
Publisher: DC Comics

In a way, when you get right down to it, there isn’t a whole lot to describe for this issue. The various Titans continue to deal with their respective Black Lanterns, who are dredging up some very specific and painful emotional reactions from the living heroes. However, as we see the Black Lantern Hawks accosting Dove, we witness an interesting reaction that is likely to play a key role in upcoming chapters of the Blackest Night event.

As a mini-series–as with the Batman and Superman ones that also ended this month–this doesn’t have a very satisfying conclusion, as we’re basically left with a lead-in to these characters joining the bigger party of the event now that their “foundation” and “connection” to the overall story has been established. While the incursion of the Black Lanterns was saved for the actual kickoff of the event with Blackest Night #1, this first wave of minis seem like they would have been better-served as either prologues, or triple-sized one-shots, to launch the respective characters into the event as a whole.

Despite that, as a reader not steeped in Titans knowledge nor invested in the ongoing series, it’s great to have a series that is reasonably accessible to chronicle the characters’ involvement in the event without having to have ongoing plots in the main book competing with the story elements of the event I’m following.

Donna Troy is forced to face her dead husband and child, and must overcome what her eyes tell her to act based on actual knowledge. Beast Boy faces the same challenge with his lost love, and has some self-realization in handling things. Dove (who seems to be the same character I recall being killed in Armageddon 2001 almost 20 years ago) is in a similar predicament as then, but doubled.

The visuals are very well-done, and really accentuate the story itself. The “big moment” of the issue with Dove is something that would not come off the same way with bad visual work. There’s also a bit at the end of the issue that really illustrates the way story and visuals work together in a comic in a way that isn’t possible with the same subtlety in a prose work.

As the final issue of a 3-issue arc, I don’t recommend this issue unless you can snag the first two; but taken with those first two and as its own story tied to Blackest Night, this is well worth your while. I suspect the older Titans fans more familiar with the characters and their history will appreciate things more; but for me, this has exposed me to characters I haven’t had much exposure to in awhile–if at all, and has put down groundwork for me to care about their involvement if they continue to play much of a role in Blackest Night.

Story: 7.5/10
Art: 8.5/10
Whole: 8/10

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Blackest Night: Titans, Comic Reviews 2009, DC, DC Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Green Lantern #47 [Review]

Posted on November 1, 2009 by Walt

Full review posted to comixtreme.com.

Story: 4/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), cxPulp.com, DC, DC Universe, Green Lantern | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Blackest Night #4 [Review]

Posted on November 1, 2009 by Walt

Full review posted to comixtreme.com.

Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: Blackest Night, Blackest Night (Event), cxPulp.com, DC, DC Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Blackest Night: Superman #3 [Review]

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Walt

Full review posted to comixtreme.com.

Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Blackest Night: Superman, cxPulp.com, DC, DC Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Blackest Night: Batman #3 [Review]

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Walt

Full review posted to comixtreme.com.

Story: 4.5/5
Art: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Blackest Night: Batman, cxPulp.com, DC, DC Universe | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Green Lantern Corps #41 [Review]

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Walt

Hungry Heart

Story & Words: Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller: Patrick Gleason
Inkers: Rebecca Buchman, Keith Champagne & Tom Nguyen
Colorists: Randy Mayor, Gabe Eltaeb
Letterer: Steve Wands
Editor: Adam Schlagman
Cover: Gleason and Buchman (variant by Greg Horn)
Publisher: DC Comics

As with a number of Blackest Night issues, this issue deals with a number of different ongoing scenes, with a couple dominating the book. While we see Soranik and crew dealing with the Black Ring/Lantern assault on wounded GLs, we also see Arisia facing her uncle, father, and mother who were GLs before her and who had died in service to the GL Corps. We also see Kilowog cut loose against the Black Lantern version of his old mentor and trainer from his own days as a rookie GL. And as the cover shows, we see a bunch of children of the GLs raised by the black rings…and “backup” arrives, ready to kick butt.

All in all, a swiftly moving issue. Tomasi–as with his other Blackest Night chapter this week in the Batman tie-in–shows that he’s got a great handle on the characters involved and things that make them tick–such that the manipulations of the Black Lanterns have something to grab hold of to try to move these characters to particular emotions in preparation for harvesting their hearts. While it’s easy to give Johns much of the credit for Blackest Night, Tomasi‘s getting a lot of moments to shine…and even this issue seems like it may have a huge event in it that isn’t explicitly followed up on.

Gleason‘s art fits the usual expectation for this title, keeping a good handle on what’s going on from place to place/scene to scene. While I (as usual) care little for this style on a number of characters, the artist’s style works well for me in terms of the Black Lanterns. Something seemed really “off” when it came to the visuals of Kilowog, though, and that really pulled me out of the story.

We’re not even halfway through Blackest Night as a whole…there are still 5 issues of the main series, a couple more issues to the first round of minis, a bunch of tie-ins in other titles in november, another round of minis, plus a month of one-shots, plus the requisite GLC and GL issues and probably some wrap up stuff that’ll technically be part of the event.

It’s a lot of elements that make this what it is…while I’ve not been overly ENJOYING this title’s chapters due to the art style, on the whole I’m finding a lot to enjoy with the event…so it’s quite cool that unlike the first round of minis, we’re not ALREADY hitting some conclusion.

I’ve said it before and expect I’ll continue to reiterate it in the coming months: this truly feels like what Infinite Crisis and/or Final Crisis combined SHOULD have been. Length, scope…sheer depth for the characters.

This issue is hardly the point to jump in cold…but for readers following Blackest Night, this is well worth getting and reading–we even see where at least a couple of the shorts from this summer’s Tales of the Corps come into play–they provided context that otherwise would’ve left two key scenes in this book to fall flat.

Story: 8/10
Art: 6/10
Whole: 7/10

Filed under: Blackest Night (Event), Comic Reviews 2009, DC, DC Universe, Green Lantern Corps | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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