Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dc, image, marvel

Last Week's Comics In Twenty Panels

Published Wed, 05 Sep 2012 04:31:25 -0500

Dr Manolis Vamvounis writes for Bleeding Cool;

Trying something new this week: taking a more in-depth look at the best and most notable stories of the past week and then doing a lightning round for everything else that went on.

<3 AUNT MAY

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #11 celebrates 50 years of Spidey with a very rare personal look at the untold story between the panels of Amazing Fantasy #15. It's the story of how Peter and May dealt with the grieving period following Ben Parker's death, with May helping him push through, how that experience drove them closer together and how their relationship has evolved from there to what it is today.

Not a stereotypical pie-making doting aunt kind of thing or a quippy page-filler, but a real back-and-forth that feels like it has a lifetime of real support and emotions backing it up. Aunt May here is more fragile than ever, more human and more real. After all the amazing work put into the Ultimate May-Peter relationship, the original mother-son pair has always felt a bit… stuck in the 60s. JMS was the only writer to really delve into their relationship but that work was undone by the remasking of OMD.

This is a proud addition to the 3-4 quintessential Aunt May and Uncle Ben spider-issues out there. This is also the best damn use of Steve Dillon in Marvel Comics. Powerful, potent, down to earth emotional stuff. People forget he's not just about the blood and gore.

THE COMING OF THE GUMMI BEAR GUARDIANS

I can't have been the only one to notice the resemblance, right? GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #1 packs a whole year's worth of twists and new story concepts, from the First Lantern to the lost guardians and the Third Army (such a quintessential Johnsian concept there, with a rather unfortunate generic 90s monster design). This is THE book to not miss if you're interested in the larger tapestry of the DCU for the coming year.

THE KISS SPOILED AROUND THE WORLD

Whatever angle we view the Superman-Wonder Woman kiss from, it still feels so forced and, well, awkward. Like two unassuming, asexual kids forced to it by their parents (or writers, editors, publishers, go as meta as you fancy here) to make out for the pleasure of the onlooking crowds. It's downright creepy no matter how you try to spin it.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #12 wraps up the first year of stories for the true-and-tried League by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, and it still seems all sorts of wrong. As far as the story is concerned, this is still the only incarnation of the Justice League that has ever been. Five years in (storywise) they still haven't really proven themselves any more than, say, the Detroit League. Could this go down as the most #fail Justice League of all time?

BOOSTER GOLD IS WITH ME ON THIS

Superman and Wonder Woman sucking face is an aberration that will bring about the end of the world as we know it. I KNEW IT! JUSTICE LEAGUE ANNUAL #1, written by Johns and DiDio himself actually reveals the potential of that series to be a great fun read and a great alternative to the much too self-serious main book. Too little too late though, as this is also the final issue of the book and the concept. Its demise of course helps fuel the larger storylines that are developing in the DCU for 2013.

THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM WITH CAROL DANVERS

You simply cannot tell her origin story without including the original Captain Marvel – and without having it sound completely ludicrous. Kelly-Sue DeConnick does try in CAPTAIN MARVEL #3 as Danvers dumbs down the story about the source of her powers for the most unlikely of audiences – a troupe of female soldiers during WWII! There's no mention of the original Captain by name, there's surely no mention of the Psycho-magnetron (although Fraction would have a field day with the sci-fi-ness of it all), but it's still… I wouldn't say convoluted, but I would go for anti-climactic or just plain old boring. So many heroes are getting their pasts retooled, why not do the same with Danvers? I'm sure the purists would be willing to turn the other way for the good of the character.

THE SOUTHERN PRINCESS AND THE TOAD

Dear Jason Aaron,

Enough is enough. I don't know what possible insult poor Paige Guthrie has brought to you and your family, but this is no gentleman's way of exacting revenge. The Toad? SERIOUSLY now, THE F***ING TOAD? Our girl Paige got more respect under Chuck Austen – that's saying everything really. Read more of this travesty for yourselves in WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #15, including some actually decent side-stories from the joining of the students from the Utopia camp and Jean Grey School.

GUFFAW OF THE WEEK?

This sequence comes from FF #21. Now, please scold me in the comments sequence if I'm reading this conversation wrong, but it would seem to imply a certain Marvel Architect (and his editors) have forgotten that Crystal is already a mother, and has been for over 30 years now. So she really shouldn't be needing to look to her sister's child (retroactively instated in a very obscure storyline far more recently) for example.

(although thinking of what poor Luna has gone through after being abandoned by BOTH parents, maybe she should)

LOOKER OF THE YEAR

That is some truly disturbing shit in NATIONAL COMICS: LOOKER #1, a brilliantly gory transformation effect.

This oneshot turns a rather forgettable (yet beloved) 80s trashy Dazzler rip-off into a run-of-the-mill vampire fashionista crime-fighter, only referencing the unfortunate 90s cannibalising of the original character and retconning her history with Batman and the Outsiders. Still, I do love the one scene early one where she has a precog flash after she O.D's on cocaine spiked with blood.

GRIND KEY HOUSE

I'm one of those fans worried sick about the effects of Key deprivation after the upcoming Locke & Key grande finale in 2013. Nasty little one-shots like LOCKE AND KEY GRINDHOUSE help soothe the nerves though – and ease the wait between volumes. There are just too many story possibilities for a place as terrible, secret-riddled and old like Key House. In this instance a classic hostile home invasion story, told in pure Grindhouse style (fonts, colours and all), with a magic key twist that turns the tables in a vicious way. It's a self-contained story as a treat to existing fans which also serves as a great appetiser for people looking to get a taste of the old magic house. Plus for the really OCD fans, a complete look at the Key House schematics, floor by floor, with story notes by the creators.

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO READ MORNING GLORIES

A bit of self-parodying going on in MORNING GLORIES #21 as we get introduced to the backstory and school experience of a whole other, older, set of students, with a rather more jaded attitude towards the strange events in the series. The issue takes a look at THEIR school origins in a very deja vu-esque/broken mirror fashion. Like I keep saying, this is LOST done right, every single step of the way.

SPOILER/LIGHTNING ROUND

Here's what else happened in comics this week:

BLACK GIRL POWER

AVX VERSUS #5 offers a VERY different account of the events surrounding the black divorce (or is that annulment?) of the year, putting Storm on top and making Black Panther look like even more of a douche. But which one do we trust?

DECODING THE REVOLVING DOOR OF DEATH

Abnett and Lanning have in the past been the most shameless of death-defying writers in the Marvel U, but at least they do it with class. In NEW MUTANTS #48, leading to the big finale of the "Dark Cypher" mega-arc of their run, we get a simplistic (yet rather eloquent) explanation to the mechanics behind the constant stream of resurrections. It's simple computer language logic.

UH-OH!

Guess who's back in ANGEL AND FAITH #13 as the mega-epic Quor'Toth saga races to its big-budget summer blockbuster conclusion.

THAT ONE TIME BLACK WIDOW GOT BRAINWASHED INTO A RUSSIAN PRIMA BALLERINA

Adding insult to stereotype in WINTER SOLDIER #9.

SEXY CAJUN UPDATE

GAMBIT #2, still sexy. It's classic LeBeau in a traditional Mission Impossible-type museum heist movie situation, laser trigger lights, sexy burglar girls, mysterious artifacts and all. You just can't go wrong with the classics. It took them five volumes to get this right?

DOLLMAN HAS NEVER LOOKED THIS INAPPROPRIATELY-NAMED

I just can't look past the sexual connotations on the cover of PHANTOM LADY AND DOLLMAN #1. You expect to turn the cover and see something out of a Geoff Johns Avengers comic. .

SECRET ORIGINS OF THE ROGUES

It's all in the FLASH ANNUAL #1, building up the Glider as a major baddie but in turn losing a lot of the charm that made guys like Weather Wizard, Cold and Mirror Master so damn great to read under Geoff Johns' guidance. Lots of great artists involved though – including Flash alumni Scott Kolins.

RE-GROUNDED

Scott Lobdell explains "Grounded" better in two panels than JMS could in a whole year of stories. Then of course he goes on to a rather tiresome extra issue–length fight with Helspont, but that's SUPERMAN ANNUAL #1 for you.

MARK BUCKINGHAM'S TASTY BUTTHOLES

You gotta marvel at how Mark Buckingham manages to steal time off his monthly FABLES art duties to pencil, ink and colour wash by hand this sort of beautiful sick delight of a back-up strip for GOON #41, a tasty riff at Man- (or Swamp-) Thing and their like. The main feature ain't half bad either, featuring the sickening ultimate take on "be careful what you wish for".

WINTER IS COMING

The wild west, super-powered guns, apocalyptic prophecies, zombies and now… haunted snow storms and giant polar wolves! It must be a new storyline starting with #24 of the ultra-epic indie hit SIXTH GUN.

THE TALLY

The dreaded fifth publishing week in a month is usually a very slow affair. DC really went all out with it this year though, cramming it with as many special length annuals as they could manage – and as many as Geoff Johns could fit into his schedule it seems. FOUR books in one week (also counting AQUAMAN which we didn't cover) is quite the load. JUSTICE LEAGUE #12, the GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL and the JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL are all specially designed for launching the DCNu into the next year's worth of stories. The latter two even made for some enjoyable reading.

Still, I gotta push AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #11 as my book of the year. It's by far the most intimate and heart-felt look at the Peter-May relationship we've seen, and a perfect touchstone for Spidey's 50th anniversary.

Also, a special nod to GOON #41, the LOCKE & KEY GRINDHOUSE oneshot and MORNING GLORIES #21. Three great self-contained books that also tie into the larger storylines of the books. Just in case you wanted to check out what all the fuss is.

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