BEST SHOTS: ASB&R, DRAX, GRAVITY, HELLBLAZER & LOADS MORE

[MattBrady]

by the Cast and Crews of ShotgunReviews.com
Your Host: Troy Brownfield

Heard you missed us; we’re back. All right, it’s only been a week, but why forgo a chance to quote “Hot for Teacher”? Who knows how long this week’s installment will end up being, especially since we’ve added another member to the team? The latest recruit is Sarah Jaffe, and she’s kicking off this installment with a look at the latest Hellblazer trade. The usual gang of idiots (where have I heard that?) follows thereafter.

John Constantine: Hellblazer: Black Flowers TP
From: DC/Vertigo
Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Jock, Marcelo Frusin and Lee Bermejo
Review by Sarah Jaffe

I have a confession to make.

I’ve been harboring a crush on John Constantine for years now. Ever since I outgrew the one on Gambit, really. And I don’t mean when he’s played by Keanu Reeves.

The man for me is the lanky, stubbly blond Brit with the trenchcoat and wiseass attitude. The one who belongs leaning in a doorway with a Silk Cut between his smirking lips. Superheroes are just so nice. Perfect. Always falling in love and getting their hearts broken and ending up with the girl next door.

So what if in the course of dating Constantine you’re more likely to end up killed by a rogue demon than heartbroken? At least it’s never boring.

In Black Flowers, the new John Constantine: Hellblazer trade, Mike Carey, the writer behind DC/Vertigo’s other blond bad boy, Lucifer, has Constantine being chased through the streets of London by three unhappy soul-eating monsters from Hell (literally), narrowly escaping ancient Celtic shepherds (of a sort), and hunting information from the Garden of Eden (which is apparently in Iran) to Tasmanian prison camps. Oh, and there’s a guest appearance by Swamp Thing, as well as the usual lovely female companion.

“The Game of Cat and Mouse” opens the trade in typical Constantine style: that is, in danger up to his ears and still cocksure and quick-witted. For those of you not familiar with this long-standing Vertigo character, Constantine is a mortal man, just your average bloke—except he’s on a first-name basis with the devil and Swamp Thing and conversant in most types of magic on this planet and off. That’s about all you need to know to pick up in the middle of his world--that and that he’s got a nasty habit of getting his friends killed, and there’s a lot of people and other sentient beings who’d love nothing more than to wring his neck, rip his guts out, eat his soul, anything you can imagine.

“The Game” ends with a message from beyond that “Black Flowers” and the three-part “Third Worlds” elaborate upon, in the usual dance across mythologies and versions of Hell. In “Black Flowers” he’s joined by Angie Spatchcock, a working-class London girl who shares the usual traits of a Constantine fling: a sense of humor, attitude, knowledge of the arcane, and a great ass (particularly when drawn by Marcelo Frusin, who may render Constantine into a blonder Clint Eastwood, but realizes that women with curves on top have them on the bottom too, if you know what I mean). “Third Worlds” actually starts to make some sense out of the first bits of the story, which admittedly seem almost superfluous when you get to the end and find out what they’re about.

Mike Carey’s grasp of mythology is starting to rival Neil Gaiman’s, and he’s well versed in history as well. There’s an occasional turn of phrase like “This is my city. I don’t know what you’ve heard elsewhere, but it’s mine. I found it mewling and covered in ____, and I adopted it,” that not only expose the character perfectly without a bit of exposition, but also just make my inner fiction writer seriously jealous. He doesn’t write damsels in distress, either—Angie and the other women in these pages are fully fleshed and aware, so you never feel bad for the girls ‘taken advantage of’ by big bad Constantine. As far as visuals go, my favorite is “Black Flowers,” drawn by Lee Bermejo with heavy, jagged lines that at times reveal almost photo-realism, but that’s not to denigrate the other two artists, the aforementioned Frusin and The Losers’ Jock, whose versions of John are just a bit different--Jock's with facial lines and eyes that belie his calm, and Frusin's sexy and smooth.

Black Flowers collects issues #181-186 of the series, so it’s not really surprising that after a while, lots of Constantine stories start to look the same—impending doom that seems inevitable, pretty girl to give him a bit of heart, then a narrow escape that hinges on wits—but the fun of reading his stories is that aside from lots of magical knowledge, Constantine doesn’t have any super powers. While Black Flowers isn’t really a complete story—more like the first half of one—it’s a good starting place for people unfamiliar with the character, or those who've lost touch with John over the years, and the story will still leave you wanting more. After all, the one thing that never grows old is seeing how John will extract himself from the latest mess.

Sarah Jaffe is the new token female on the reviews team. Her hobbies include foreign films, collecting tattoos, bicycle mechanics, and walking into comic shops and listening to fanboys stutter when she actually buys things.

All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #2
From: DC
Writer: Frank Miller
Art: Jim Lee and Scott Williams
Review by The Rev. OJ Flow

An acquaintance of mine recently suggested that if you take any Batman book and use Adam West's voice for the lead hero's dialogue, it makes it a thousand times better. Hilarious an idea as it is, it did help me come to a realization as to why All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder is failing to connect for me at this point. I will get to that realization a little later. This week at my local comic book store, I was treated to three different Batman characters. We got the emotionally wounded Batman in JLA #118: a hero who is bitter with his teammates for an earlier betrayal, yet a man who is focused, a consummate professional, and someone I'd trust with my life. We have the Gotham City defender in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #195: a relative novice in crimefighting, but a rational team player as he develops a team of civilian recruits to assist him in his never-ending war. Then we have the Batman written by a man who just about everyone credits with returning the character to cultural prominence twenty years ago, and I'm here to tell you that this Batman freaks me out right now. I couldn't have been more excited about the pairing of writer Frank Miller with Jim Lee on art chores for what I thought was going to be a classic rendering of Batman and Robin for DC's much-hyped "All Star" comics line, but I'll be hard-pressed to find a majority who favors this Batman as classic after reading the second issue of this series. What makes this all the more frustrating is that there's the occasional flash of brilliance in this story, just not enough to undo some frightening characterization of the lead player.

The action in All Star B&R picks up immediately from the debut issue. Batman has arrived to rescue (a term I use liberally) the newly orphaned Dick Grayson from corrupt Gotham City cops who have abducted him for what remain unknown motives. While Alfred tends to a wounded Vicki Vale after their attempts to intervene before Batman's arrival (a scene that has some odd sexual tension running throughout), the Dark Knight takes young Grayson with him for what amounts to a sort of joyride initiation. A lot has been made from fans after the first issue of the series as to the pederastic nature of Bruce Wayne's assessment of his future partner, and I have to say the first two pages of the second chapter do little to squelch that hypothesizing. The simultaneous esteem and contempt that Batman seems to hold for the young boy has a creepy feel that's hard to shake off. Then when Batman takes the opportunity to show Dick what the full capabilities of the Batmobile are at the expense of some more rogue cops on the outskirts of Gotham and he takes on a persona that resembles Steve Martin's hallucination of John Candy in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles when they were GOING THE WRONG WAY, I'm compelled to wonder just how much contempt Frank Miller has for these characters that have made him a pretty good living over the years. Hell, when did Miller develop such contempt for his readers?? "Are you retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am? I'm the Goddamn Batman?" Sorry, but I see that playing for laughs in a Kevin Smith film, not a straight-up Batman comic.

Not to say that this series is lacking moments in skillful production. That's what probably makes the creative shortcomings more disheartening than anything. Jim Lee's art (with Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair) is spectacular most of the time. From that standpoint, this is a big-budget production all the way. Lee and company manage to pull dynamic action from a script that epitomizes decompression. And what makes it interesting are the instances where Miller's scripts come through in the layouts, especially when you're able to compare it to what we got a couple years ago with Jeph Loeb's "Hush" in Batman. Take the 2-page spread at about the halfway point where Batman uses the Batmobile to take some police cars head on. It's pure Miller coming through where even a random panel of a lizard skipping across the rain-soaked highway (no purpose here, mind you) is something I know I've seen like in Sin City. In fact, at times I half thought I was reading that Dark Horse series, enough even that I half wondered if Miller recycled a script from that book. Other than the maniacal energy Miller infuses into Batman's personality, there really isn't a whole lot right with this that's making it a distinctive -- let alone definitive -- Batman book. I would say the book at the very least works as a response to Marvel's Ultimates in that resembling the originals doesn't guarantee likability.

There were a couple hints that there may be more to the story (is there one yet?) than we've gotten after two issues. The real last three pages of #2 are promising enough (I say "real" because the actual last page does not count since it's a full-page "to be continued" notice) with suggestions that this Dark Knight is not totally bat-shi# insane as he kind of straightens himself out and deals with Grayson as a real human being whose parents were just ruthlessly assassinated. This was probably the only time in the series where Bruce Wayne was written as soulfully as he was in Batman Year One and Dark Knight Returns. More than anything I'd like to see an admirable or heroic Batman, and we haven't gotten that yet. One wonders if the "All Star" concept begins and ends with the creative team, characters be damned. As to my realization that I brought up at the beginning, this was what made me ultimately conclude that this imagining of Batman doesn't work: better than Adam West, imagine Kevin Conroy reciting Batman's lines in this book and tell me if you think it works. Nope, I didn't think so either.

OJ earns bonus points this week for being the guy who recruited Sarah to the team. Between that and his unabashed willingness to buy rounds, he’s bucking for MVP status.

Drax the Destroyer #1
From: Marvel
Writer: Keith Giffen
Art: Mitch Breitweiser
Advance Review by Troy Brownfield (Book due 9-28-05)

For the uncertain among you, Drax the Destroyer was among the landslide of characters and concepts introduced in the seminal Iron Man #55. A human man slain by Thanos and reconfigured into a green powerhouse by Mentor, Drax fought alongside allies like the Avengers, Captain Mar-Vell and his daughter Moondragon. Rubbed out and later resurrected to be part of Marvel’s “Infinity” trilogy and the spin-off Infinity Watch ongoing, later interpretations of Drax deprived him of his intellect, rendering him the large green muscle that never really did much of enormous interest.

Now, Marvel is giving the human/alien warrior a go in his own book, and the writer’s baton has been handed to comics’ current Renaissance man, Keith Giffen. Giffen is experiencing something of a creative second wind these days, what with titles at Boom! Studios (like Hero Squared) and his various projects for DC. This new book looks to be worth at least a second look, because he quickly takes a character that I never had any affinity for and begins adding layers of interest.

We open on a prison ship passing near Earth, ferrying prisoners for the Universal Church (old school Adam Warlock fans, represent!). Among the incarcerated is Paibok, a Skrull villain of the Fantastic Four most notable for temporarily killing Lyja. And here we find Drax, still less than intelligent, but locked in contemplation. As the ship hits trouble and goes down on Earth, a number of factors come into play. One seems to be that some of the inmates are nervous about Earth (a herald of Galactus chooses to live there, after all), and the other is that Drax’s mind suddenly begins to sharpen.

Against this backdrop we meet a young girl and boy who are destined to become wrapped up in Drax’s arrival. Fortunately (or unfortunately as the case may be), people in that particular area of Alaska aren’t easily convinced that there was an alien crash. In the case of the kids, they go out looking, and get more than they bargain for.

One thing I like about this book is that it’s very much a blank slate for the team to work with. Sure, Drax has been around, but never in this capacity. His story could go in a number of valid directions without “tainting” the essence of an iconic vision. The Breitweiser art is strong, and he ably captures the space scenes and Earth backgrounds with equal skill. This first issue will likely remind you of The Fugitive, but I have literally no idea what to expect from the story from here on out. This is a sharp-looking new book with an intriguing cast that could evolve into a cult fave.

The Pulse #11
From: Marvel
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Gaydos
Review by J. Caleb Mozzocco

The cover for the eleventh issue of The Pulse, Bendis’ wildly uneven and unpredictable title tying Jessica Jones and Ben Urich into whatever random story arc of Bendis’ (or, in one case, Millar’s) the prolific writer feels like exploring from their perspective, features the entire line-up of the New Avengers huddled around Jessica and a darling little baby, even those who haven’t officially joined the team yet, (Like this “Ronin” person, who is in serious danger of being overexposed before he even makes his first appearance).

It’s a pretty neat cover by Mike Mayhew, featuring the scariest image of Wolverine ever printed—Seriously, Logan covered head to toe in other people’s blood and snarling like an animal while he points his claws at you is nowhere near as horrifying as the site of him in full yellow spandex waving a little teddy bear and apparently uttering koochie-koochie-koo baby talk. Brrr!

Despite the fact that Jessica and Luke Cage’s baby appears on the cover, this being a Bendis comic, you have to expect it will take much longer than one issue for a birth to take place. And good thing too, because the writer’s infamously careful pacing feels very naturalistic here, as we see Jessica engaging in a fairly interesting conversation about motherhood in the Marvel Universe during a lunch date with Sue Richards and Carol Danvers.

Meanwhile, Ben Urich is on the trail of a superhero that looks like a fat Daredevil with a Wolverine cowl who may not be the hero he seems, and Luke Cage goes costume shopping (finally!). The costume scene, which features Janet Van Dyne as a superhero costume designer, seems awkward after having seen The Incredibles, especially when Jan claps her hands; Bendis isn’t biting off the Pixar instant classic, of course, but any super-fashion designer suffers when compared to Brad Bird’s brilliant creation of Edna “E” Mode in that film.

This issue also reunites Bendis and Jessica with their Alias collaborator, artist Michael Gaydos, and it’s refreshing to see the gang all together again. Gaydos’ style is tailor-made for Bendis and Bendis’ more realistic take on superheorics, and here it has an interesting painterly feel to it (thanks to colorist Matt Hollingsworth).

Ending with the mother of all cliffhangers, this issue of The Pulse, like Bendis’ recent Ultimate Spider-Man annual, is a wonderful example of how in the hands of a talent like his, the most potent, visceral drama comes not from the villain of the week, but the little real-life moments that readers here in the real world most strongly relate too.

Gravity #4
From: Marvel
Writer: Sean McKeever
Artist: Mike Norton and Jonathan Glapion
Review by J. Caleb Mozzocco

If Ultron, Dr. Doom, The Green Goblin and Magneto ever teamed up and completely annihilated their archenemies, the Marvel Universe would still have some pretty compelling heroes hanging around to help save the day, thanks to the new generation of heroes being introduced in the pages of Runaways, Young Avengers and, most especially, miniseries Gravity.

Greg Willis, a Midwesterner who moved to the big apple to attend college and use his gravity-powers to fight the good fight, seems to be more of a classic every-hero than the rest of his generation. While Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona’s Runaways are too-cool-for-school in that costumeless, post-Starman ironic way and the Young Avengers all have Avengers analogues, Gravity seems to have sprung fully formed out of Sean McKeever’s head, though certainly his head was full of the whole history of superhero comics at the time.

With powers reminiscent of DC’s Geo-Force (but not really) and a classic looking costume that looks like Blue Beetles’ mixed with those silly baggy cargo pants the college kids wear, and girl and school problems like the Stan Lee,/John Romita Spider-Man. McKeever and Norton aren’t reinventing the wheel here, but they’re reinvigorating it a bit.

For the first four chapters of its five-issue run, it’s been pretty standard superheroic dramedy, but its pretty well done standard superheroic dramedy. Among McKeever’s more interesting creations is an annoying roommate who’s ga-ga for superheroes (who doesn’t even realize he’s living with one) and a villain with a pretty unique secret identity. Oh, and the title has also given us the lamest hero from either of the Big Two universes since Kevin Smith introduced The Buckeye during his Green Arrow run—The Greenwich Guardian, who sounds more like a free tabloid newspaper than a hero.

In this very issue, we learn the secret identities of both GG and Black Death, neither of which bodes well for our hero. Will Gravity survive his latest encounter with Black Death? Well, this being a miniseries for a brand-new character, that ends next issue, I guess it’s possible our hero might actually get killed. But here’s hoping he survives long enough to earn an ongoing series.

J. Caleb Mozzocco may live in the same city and buy his comics from the same comic shop as Sean McKeever, but that doesn’t make him feel obligated to give McKeever’s comics positive reviews—he thinks the art in McKeever’s 24-Hour Comic Book Day comic, for example, totally sucks.

Desolation Jones # 3
From: Wildstorm Signature
Writer: Warren Ellis
Art: J.H.Williams III
Review by Koben Kelly

Lately, I've written at length about Warren Ellis. True, he does have a ton of first issues coming out. True, I hope and pray that these series make it past a year with at least six issues under the belt, each. However, allow me to shine a little light on his artist for this particular book.

J.H.Williams is one of the finest illustrators among us, today. His earlier works took me quite by surprise. I remember buying an issue of Starman with Williams as a guest artist. Dark and shadowy overtones engulfed the story, appropriate for a tale centering on the Shade. I had not encountered much like it, back in the day. His work on Promethea defied convention, translating Moore's written imagery into a visual medium. Otherworldly lands, along with their populations of gods and goddesses, gave access to a synergy not commonly seen elsewhere in comics. Hell, in even the ill-fated Chase, his pencils stole the show. I'm not sure if he uses photo-reference or not, but if he does, his characters have a graceful flow of life, lacking the stiffness seen elsewhere. With Desolation Jones, Williams has outdone himself, again.

In this issue, Williams seems to be testing his limits as far as trying on new styles. It's almost an homage to others' work he is influenced by or simply likes. The varying images portraying multiple versions of his art is actually integral to the story. Jones himself has undergone years of mental experimentation and violent info overload (torture, if you like), causing him to hallucinate on occasion. Almost as if he were popping into and out of varying alternate versions of reality. Among the styles we see, included are the pencils with watercolor and scratchy pen and ink influence of Sienkiewicz. We also see a more minimal take much akin to Buckingham, a dramatic black and white something like Fegredo, the rounded intention of Tony Harris, and a splash on the last page that could be mistaken for the tortured shadows of Jae Lee. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think that Williams is stealing anything from the artists mentioned. No, I just feel that the man is driven to reproduce Ellis' vision in its direct intention. Upon reading the book, you can almost feel Jones' shifts in reality.

The story itself is quite original and driven. While searching for a very valuable item of pornographic nature, Jones witnesses the mistreatment of two adult starlets while on stakeout. He joins them in a jaunt about the city, winding up in one of the only bars in LA where you can smoke. While he listens to his companion's story, which is quite factual and pulls no punches, the aforementioned hallucinations kick in. It seems that they are influenced by the girl's story and accentuate the intended mood. After the drinking and smoking are over, Jones decides to pay the head pornographer a visit. Much tail kicking ensues as our man lets the bastard-in-charge know what he thinks about the situation. Jones may be down, but he is far from out.

Also contributing much to the overall visuals is colorist Jose Villarrubbia. He adds presence and texture to many scenes in a way that is just right for this book. Hope he gets more prominent work out of this exposure, besides being Alan Moore's personal photographer.

Lastly, I'd like to add that the covers have been awesome. I'm not sure if Ellis has any say about what they depict (I'm sure he does), but all three have been strong attention-getters. The latest one looks like a cross between a propaganda image and CBGB's newest show poster. A very noticeable image, sure to get many a flip-through.

Bill and Ted’s Most Excellent Adventures Volumes 1 & 2
From: Amaze Ink
Writer: Evan Dorkin
Artists: Evan Dorkin and Friends
Review by Corey Henson

In 1992, Marvel Comics launched Bill and Ted’s Excellent Comic Book, a licensed series that continued the adventures of the titular heroes of the movies Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures and Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. The movies were great fun despite (or perhaps because of) the oddball premise of two time-traveling dimwits who become the universe’s most important people, though one has to assume that much of the franchise’s continued success is due to its co-star Keanu Reeves, who starred as Ted “Theodore” Logan. The comic, which lasted a mere twelve issues, would be a mere footnote in comics history were it not for one simple fact: The series represents the first major work in the career of Evan Dorkin, who would later go on to greater success as the creator of Dork and Milk and Cheese. Thankfully, the fine folks at Amaze Ink have rescued the series from obscurity by reprinting it in two black and white, digest-sized graphic novels.

The newly-christened Bill and Ted’s Most Excellent Adventures kicks off with Marvel’s adaptation of Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. Dorkin did a most resplendent
job of introducing Bill and Ted to the world of four color comics; most movie adaptations are unreadable dreck because the creators can‘t squeeze in every major plot point into the book‘s page allotment without the finished product reading like it was plotted by a five year-old child whose Ritalin prescription has run out. Dorkin, however, who was
working from the movie’s shooting script, manages to keep the proceedings flowing smoothly without the suffering the usual pacing problems that undercut these types of projects.

Dorkin uses the Bogus Journey adaptation as a pilot of sorts for the regular series, kicking things off shortly after the movie’s end. From there he shows Bill and Ted’s journey from a mediocre heavy metal band to universal heroes, weaving clever subplots into the franchise’s mythology and incorporating many of the supporting characters from both movies into the comic. The Grim Reaper is hands down the best of the lot, as Dorkin seems to have a real affinity for the character. The Reaper serves as a sidekick of sorts
for Bill and Ted, even becoming the Wyld Stallyns’ manager. He also takes a fast food job to pay his rent, gets replaced as the personification of death by a midget skeleton dressed like Flava Flav, and barfs during a Planet of the Apes movie marathon. Abraham
Lincoln gets in on the act too, most notably during an issue towards the end of the series where Bill and Ted (and Honest Abe himself) finally learn of the sixteenth president’s totally heinous assassination. (Spoiler alert: None of them take the news very well.)

Unfortunately, the supporting cast expands too far as the series progresses, and a few characters with the potential to be entertaining are never fully developed. Phil, the Wyld Stallyn’s new bass player, gets very little space for character development, even
though his even-temperament would have provided a nice counterpoint to the manic Bill and Ted. Rufus, our heroes’ most excellent mentor in the movies, is treated like a mere bit player by Dorkin. New characters like public access channel metalheads J.C., Stinky Eddie and Micki, or Flim and Flam, Bill and Ted’s record company execs, are given so little to do they may as well not exist at all.

It’s the job of the main characters to carry any work of fiction, and as for our main characters, Bill and Ted, they do a fine job here. Let’s face it, they’re not the sharpest notes in the guitar solo, but as written by Dorkin, they’re just good-natured enough to
make up for any other shortcomings they have. Bill and Ted would much rather solve their problems with friendship and love (and maybe a first-rate party) than with fisticuffs. Their lack of intelligence and laid-back demeanors could have gotten very annoying very quickly, but their charm and charisma shines through instead.

In the hands of a lesser creator, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Comic Book could have been most heinous indeed. Kudos to Fabian Nicieza, the original series editor, for wisely choosing the (at the time) virtually unknown Evan Dorkin to helm the Bill and Ted
series. Dorkin is one of the comic book world’s funniest and sharpest cartoonists, as readers of Dork and Milk and Cheese can attest. Personally, I’ve always felt that Dorkin’s best work comes when he works “blue,” without having to worry about offending any of his reader’s delicate sensibilities (some of his gags in Dork and M & C are absolutely fearless in their outrageousness). While the gags don’t always work (a superhero parody in volume two falls particularly flat), Bill and Ted proves that Dorkin doesn’t need to shock his readers to make them laugh.

Corey Henson thinks that the season finale of Rescue Me was one of the finest hours of television he has ever seen. He also thinks the season premiere of The OC was even crappier than the crappiest episode from that show’s second season. Since when do cops and lawyers think the word of one convicted felon/attempted rapist is more credible than that of FOUR relatively well-behaved high school students?

Rex Libris #1
by James Turner
From: Slave Labor Graphics
Review by Troy Brownfield

Librarians never get any respect. Between the shelving, the conversion from card catalog to database, the vagaries of the Dewey Decimal system, and the constant shushing, the job can be a drag. Now picture yourself with those everyday duties, then factor in late borrowers from across time, samurai demons who want to take out copies of Evil Made Easy without a card, and those pesky zombies who come looking for the Necronomicron. And it’s not like the bosses won’t know if you slack off: they’re the Egyptian pantheon of gods.

That’s the set-up for James Turner’s brilliant, raucous and literate new series. Rex is a simple librarian, as simple as a librarian can be who has lived a few thousand years and packs heat for his inevitable encounters with supernatural adversaries. You could almost classify it as goofy fun if the whole thing weren’t so consistently smart.

Turner’s art style here is all sharp angles and jagged black and white. There are great design elements, reminding me of a mutant cross between Chris Ware and Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” video. The art is great because of its attitude; in fact, the whole book is suffused with this incredible “We can do anything with this premise!” kind of feeling. We even get a “DVD commentary” on the action that runs along the bottom of each page, racking up an insane amount of text for a 32-page, adless book (34 if you count the pieces inside the front and back covers) that still only rings up at $2.95.

Rex Libris is sharp, funny, and looks great. People have complained as of late that the element of “fun” is missing from some of the comics they read. The fun’s not missing; Turner found it.

Pellet Reviews!

JSA #77 (DC; by OJ): I was psyched to get this assignment because I had yet to get a chance to cover "JSA Proper" here, but this issue was not quite what I was looking for. JSA is still the best superhero team book being published right now, but #77 was undoubtedly a transitional chapter for the creative team, and more an issue that facilitates the wide-ranging activities leading up to Identity Crisis. My only problem, on a personal level, was that it was not exactly an issue that showed what's so great about the title. I blame some of that on the fact that it's an issue weighed down by crossover baggage. The JSA receive an unexpected visit from DC veteran Air Wave, and they reach out to Green Lantern Hal Jordan because he's the wayward hero's cousin. Air Wave is picking up communications from all over the galaxy and it's causing his powers to go haywire and the JSA try to figure out why. One thing that sticks out is the fill-in art by Jim Fern. It's serviceable at best, but there are instances where Alan Scott and Jordan are posed side by side and the coloring is the only way you can tell them apart from the shoulders up. A more capable artist might've made some effort to make Scott appear older than his younger Silver Age counterpart. Geoff Johns does infuse the story with some quality characterization between the 2 GLs, and I would recommend this issue to fans of Jordan's solo book. [NOTE: There is a surprise guest appearance that is questionably timed because another series involving the character is still being played out. Remember what I said about crossover baggage?]

Hawkman #44 (DC; by OJ): Wow, this book is full of surprises. You knew the idea of a new Hawkman was going to be a mere phase, but the sudden change that occurs by the end of this issue is a doozy. Hawkman is kicking ass and taking names -- just not necessarily the one you might think. The action is off the charts, the mystery get deeper, the art by Joe Benentt & Co. is phenomenal, and Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti have a lot of explaining to do. You-know-what is hittin' the fan big time in four weeks, and I for one cannot wait.

Firestorm #18 (DC; by OJ): Stuart Moore is clearly bringing some very thoughtful and introspective energy to this book, and Firestorm is all the better for it. It's a shame that some old school Ronnie Raymond fans may have given up on this book early, because between Jamal Igle's art and Moore's writing is making it one of DC's best books right now. It's a very busy issue with it being a huge tie-in to Villains United and even tapping into the Rann/Thanagar War, but the exceptional creative team manages it all very well, and not at the expense of continued character growth for our hero, Jason Rusch. Firestorm gets my highest recommendation.

Rann-Thanagar War #5 (DC: by Caleb) Like the other Countdown minis, War has been reintroducing and redefining a particular corner of the DCU, giving panel time to a bunch of B– to Z-list characters, but it’s probably the least essential read of them all. Writer Dave Gibbons has been doing a decent job, but he’s basically just moving pieces around a board; it reads a little like a chapter in a history book (“This army fought that army here, and then an alliance was formed with this other army…”). But with more laser guns and zombies. The prelude to this series, collected in Adam Strange: Planet Heist, did a much better job sketching out the setting and telling an actual, dramatic story. Those who were happy to see one of their favorite obscure space characters appear in this series might come to regret the fact that DC unearthed them at all, as one player won’t survive to see the Rann-Thanagar War #6. On the plus side, Kyle Rayner doesn’t shout “Great Guardians!” at all this issue.

Double-Shot: The Pulse # 11 (Marvel; by Koben): This is the book I have been waiting for! It seems like Bendis woke up and realized that it was not the next evolution of Alias he had promised. Random issues with a lack of linear storytelling have hurt this series. The Wolverine bit..."Stop raping me!!"... was just laughable. Now, I truly believe that this title can deliver the goods. The addition of Alias artist, Gaydos, seems to be the icing on the cake. A truly entertaining conversation, between Jess and Sue Storm, deals with the important topic of the raising of a child by two superhuman parents. The dialog is spot-on, completely believable, showcasing Bendis' knack for speech rhythms. Later, we get to witness Janet Van Dyne's fashion show for Luke's sorely-needed super gear. The quest continues. And, yes, the baby has the appropriate flesh-tone on the cover, too.

Marvel Knights 4 # 22 (Marvel; by Koben): Who is better suited to investigate a rooftop menace terrorizing people on Yancy Street than the ever-lovin' Thing? Ben Urich and Jessica Jones (sporting black hair for some reason) have a sit-down with Grimm to ask for help. It seems that bricks, gargoyle-bits, and other heavy items are being cast down from the rooftops of Yancy Street. Nine people have been injured, so far. Ben takes the case, and begins his patrol. It seems that something controlled by Jewish mysticism has been unearthed, and is out of control. It's up to the blue-eyed Thing to save the day. This issue had a nice twist in that much of the story is accompanied by the written observations of Urich, giving it a gumshoe style unassociated with the Fantastic Four. This book is great for an out-of-the-ordinary FF fix. MK 4, along with Nightcrawler, is shaping me into quite the Aguirre-Sacasa fan.

Double Shot: All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #2 (DC; by Corey): In which the Caped Crusader and his youthful ward-to-be Dick Grayson enjoy a moonlit drive and talk about their feelings. On the run from Gotham’s corrupt police force, Batman terrorizes the hell out of the newly orphaned Grayson as a ploy to recruit the youngster in his war on crime. Given the highly immoral tactics he utilizes--kidnapping, gassing, insulting, and generally trying to scare the bejeebus out of him--Batman comes across as a total asshat here, which is saying quite a bit considering what a jerk he is in normal DCU continuity. Some folks will likely complain about the Dark Knight’s behavior, which is undeniably over the top (Frank Miller seems to be painting Batman in the broadest strokes imaginable, purging the character of any depth he has and presenting him almost as an archetype of himself), but it poses an interesting question in the Batman and Robin relationship: Did Dick Grayson join the Bat-fold because he shares Bruce Wayne’s thirst for justice, or was he suffering from a case of Stockholm Syndrome? Discuss.

JLA #118 (DC; by Troy): To recap: the JLA has taken down the members of the classic Secret Society of Super-Villains (whose original mind-swapping scheme back in the day forced the hand of the League in terms of the mind-wiping mess that later led to the Dr. Light/Batman mind-wipings that were exposed in Identity Crisis). The League is once again confronted with the dilemma of what to do with a group of villains who know their secrets. Meanwhile, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman duke it out with that big pink bastard Despero, who restored the Society’s mind-wiped memories in the first place. (I can’t believe I got that all in in three sentences). The debate that follows and the establishment of where each Leaguer stands is welcome and well-done in the wake of Identity Crisis; we see who would do things differently, who wouldn’t and why. On the battlefront, Aquaman is put to good use here, displaying the badass side of his nature with one simple command. Of course, as these plots begin to intersect with one another (and with that of Batman, who reveals his situation to Catwoman), a certain irony is involved with which members of the JLA will now be pitted against one another. I think that this has been a strong linking arc between Identity and Infinite Crisis. My theory would be that in the wake of the latter, we’ll see a completely reconstituted League, bereft of the icons and the Satellite era members whose actions inadvertently led to a series of tragedies and villainous alliances.

Dracula vs. King Arthur #1 and 2 (Silent Devil Productions; by Troy): There have been a lot of books pitting famous characters against one another, and most of them tend to fall short for me. This one, however, is one that I’ve found to be very entertaining. For one thing, the creative team (writers Adam and Christian Beranek, artist Chris Moreno, colorist Jay Fotos) have chosen to go with fairly specific renderings of the two titular characters. Their version of Dracula closely parallels the one seen in the Francis Ford Coppola film, and their Arthur recalls Excalibur. I like that establishment, because it lets our mind fill in certain details about the two incarnations as they are pitted on their paths against one another. This could easily have been a groaner of an idea, but the Beraneks attack the writing with conviction. They bring solid characterization to the archetypes (I especially like the eccentric Merlin) and let Moreno’s strong art run wild with the action. The first issue carries 38 pages of well-colored story for $2.95, which is certainly tough to beat in today’s market. Find out more at www.silentdevil.com

Troy Brownfield founded ShotgunReviews.com and serves as the Editor-in-Chief. He’s a professor of English, journalism and communication and freelances for a number of print and online sources. Anyone wishing to submit their titles for review can contact Troy at psikotyk@aol.com. Next time: More Top Shelf, more vampires, and more of everything, really.

[Blind Assassin]

So glad to see dracula vs. king arthur getting some love.

an excellent mini, beautifully rendered, and by the time issue 2 ended, i was on the edge of my seat!!

Also, glad to see Gaydos and Bendis together again. The Pulse finally 'felt right'.

[Mr Wesley]

I be glad to be seein' Gravity some of the reviewin' love. 'Tis a great title for certain, and if Red Dog Quesada doesn't be makin' this a continuin' series soon, I'll be makin' him to walk the plank!

Arrgh!

[KyleCowstar]

I'm glad to see that All Star: Batman isn't being well-received. I didn't enjoy it either. Maybe people will pick up Gravity after these great reviews.....no probably not.

[Gordon McAlpin]

Desolation Jones is ____ing awesome. All-Star Batman is sadly written by Miller in Dark Knight Strikes Back mode, which is to say it's painful crap.

But unlike you guys, I think Jim Lee is on autopilot on this one, which is to say he's good but not great.

I'm just hoping a better writer comes along up to pick up after these boys when they're gone.

Oh well. All-Star Superman will kick ass.

[Da_Black_Goku]

After two issues, All-Star Batman and Robin is about to be dropped. While I'm loving Jim Lee's art, I'm just not interested in how this story is progressing thus far [ugh, Miller]. I'm a little more than just bored with it. I'll give it to issue 5 or 6 [whatever issue ends the first arc] to make me a believer or I'm going to replace it with another Marvel title.

JL's art isn't saving this one for me.

Hmmm, just had a thought... is this a mini-series?

[tgail]

Originally posted by Gordon McAlpin
All-Star Superman will kick ass.

Man, Oh Man! I couldn't agree more!

[elfin27]

so good to see gravity here. is it doing well sales-wise? i got it after flicking through issue three at my LCS. good thing they have one onwards. bought all 3 issues.

liked all star batman though. not a huge bat fan but have been collecting robin since the first mini

[BrotherI]

JSA has Hal Jordan this issue? On the order it goes. Good ol' Green Lantern.

Shame about All-Star, ennit? I hope it picks up, and I'm still thankful its better than "For Tommorrow".

[goofball814]

Originally posted by Gordon McAlpin
Oh well. All-Star Superman will kick ass.

Yeah?!?! That's what everyone was saying leading into the Aweful All-Star B&R. And look at the piece of turd we've been delivered. I've cancelled both books from my pull list. I've starting to loose faith in DC. There hype making machine is approaching Marvel level, and the deliverance is getting just as attrocious....

[Johnny Triangles]

Has anyone considered that maybe Miller is trying to redo the original tone of the Bob Kane/Bill Finger Batman comics? In the issues of Detective before Dick Grayson was introduced, Batman was a gun-toting psycho that strangled and killed foes and wreaked havoc with reckless abandon. When Dick Grayson was introduced, he was smiling, became light-hearted and was toned down severely in psychoticness. Eventually he became a deputized officer of the law. Maybe Miller is trying to follow the same character arc as Kane and Finger? Regardless, it was still horribly done, but I'm just trying to figure out Miller's thought process.

[Johnny Triangles]

Originally posted by goofball814
Yeah?!?! That's what everyone was saying leading into the Aweful All-Star B&R. And look at the piece of turd we've been delivered. I've cancelled both books from my pull list. I've starting to loose faith in DC. There hype making machine is approaching Marvel level, and the deliverance is getting just as attrocious....

I agree that the Marvel has a worse hype machine, but they rarely produce DC-quality dreck. New Avengers, Young Avengers, She-Hulk,Ultimate Spidey and Ultimates...they've all delivered pretty much.

[comicnazi]

I think Gravity is only selling around 10 to 11 thousand copies....so it doesn't look good for becoming an ongoing.

[Gordon McAlpin]

Originally posted by goofball814
Yeah?!?! That's what everyone was saying leading into the Aweful All-Star B&R. And look at the piece of turd we've been delivered. I've cancelled both books from my pull list. I've starting to loose faith in DC. There hype making machine is approaching Marvel level, and the deliverance is getting just as attrocious....

Two issues into a series written by Frank Miller -- whose track record lately has been less than stellar (to put it kindly) -- and so you drop a book by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, whose last work together was WE3, which was one of the greatest action comics to have come out in the past five years.

Hm...

Can someone explain to me how that makes any sense whatsoever?

Just remember: DC provides the PRESS RELEASES, the fanboys provide the hype.

[Not From Around]

An adventure comic about librarians, huh? I've got a professional interest in this one. Actually you'd be surprised at how physically hardy librarians can be--we have to carry big piles of books around all the time. And if you work in a research library, you'd better have a good respiratory system to handle all that dust. Most of us don't see very well, though, so we probably shouldn't mess around with guns too much.

So one of my favorite obscure characters, Air Wave, is appearing again? Given what has been happening to lesser characters in the DC universe lately, I can't say I consider that good news....

[caleb]

I just wanted to spend 2 cents on ASBaRtBW—I don't think anyone's WRONG here, it's definitely an out-there, never-before-seen version of the Dark Knight as someone who's not only on the edge or crazy like a fox, but stark raving bonkers. But whether that's a bad thing or an awesome thing sort of depends on the reader. Obviously, a lot of readers aren't digging the Batman as nutjob portrayal we're getting here.

Personally, I loved this issue, and laughed out loud repeatedly. While Miller's take doesn't strike me as THE Batman, as O.J. alluded to, there are SO many damn Batmen, that I never worry too much about the characterization, outside the current continuity, DCU stuff.

And don't drop it now! You'll miss Miller and Lee's Joker (if BATMAN is this scary, can you imagine what the Joker is going to be like?) and Lee drawing a bunch of sexy super-ladies!

I can't decide whether "Are you retarded?...I'm the goddam Batman!" or Bizarro running through a vineyard clutching a bunch of grapes and shouting "France am awesome!" in Gail Simone's (and some uneven artist with a familiar name's) ACTION COMICS was the funniest line of the week...

[ShadoJakk]

Originally posted by KyleCowstar
I'm glad to see that All Star: Batman isn't being well-received. I didn't enjoy it either. Maybe people will pick up Gravity after these great reviews.....no probably not.

Actually,the positive reviews i have read on this board DID make me go out and purchase this mini,and have been glad i did. =)

[lobocomics]

Originally posted by Johnny Triangles
Has anyone considered that maybe Miller is trying to redo the original tone of the Bob Kane/Bill Finger Batman comics? In the issues of Detective before Dick Grayson was introduced, Batman was a gun-toting psycho that strangled and killed foes and wreaked havoc with reckless abandon. When Dick Grayson was introduced, he was smiling, became light-hearted and was toned down severely in psychoticness. Eventually he became a deputized officer of the law. Maybe Miller is trying to follow the same character arc as Kane and Finger? Regardless, it was still horribly done, but I'm just trying to figure out Miller's thought process.

Tank you very much.... exactely.... knowing Milller and after reading a Dame to kill for.... I know he does take you on a direction, and then change the story to some place where you didn´t expect it.... I waited to see where the crappy for tomorrow story went..(nowhere)... so I think I can give Miller the benefit of the doubt. To me it is very obvious that Robin is going to humanize Batman... from this cold sadistic figure that is loosing his humanity... comes a kid that serves as a balance to the characther... otherwise there would be no point in having Robin.

And Jim Lee... on auto pilot or not...still kicks ass.

Then again... we will discuss this again around issue 10 and see where it went... too soon to tell.

[Kolimar]

Originally posted by MattBrady
From: Marvel
Writer: Keith Giffen
Art: Mitch Breitweiser
Advance Review by Troy Brownfield (Book due 9-28-05)

For the uncertain among you, Drax the Destroyer was among the landslide of characters and concepts introduced in the seminal Iron Man #55. A human man slain by Thanos and reconfigured into a green powerhouse by Mentor,

Just a detail: IIRC, Drax was created by Kronos the Titan.

Keith Giffen keeps proving why he's one of my favorite writers. Two-fingered salute to those who say he's a one-pony show.

[Kolimar]

Originally posted by MattBrady
The Pulse #11
From: Marvel
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Gaydos
Review by J. Caleb Mozzocco

It’s a pretty neat cover by Mike Mayhew, featuring the scariest image of Wolverine ever printed—Seriously, Logan covered head to toe in other people’s blood and snarling like an animal while he points his claws at you is nowhere near as horrifying as the site of him in full yellow spandex waving a little teddy bear and apparently uttering koochie-koochie-koo baby talk. Brrr!

That made me laugh out loud.

Originally posted by MattBrady
and Luke Cage goes costume shopping (finally!). The costume scene, which features Janet Van Dyne as a superhero costume designer, seems awkward after having seen The Incredibles, especially when Jan claps her hands; Bendis isn’t biting off the Pixar instant classic, of course, but any super-fashion designer suffers when compared to Brad Bird’s brilliant creation of Edna “E” Mode in that film.

I still miss Luke's costume by Pasqual Ferry in H4H.

[Shinlyle]

Good to see that some others are htating AS:B&R as much as I am right now. That book is just dumb...nowhere NEAR where it could be.

[CarlBowen]

As far as the start of the Dynamic Duo goes, is this really an idea that desperately needed a radical reinvention? Batman: Year Three wasn't that long ago... only 10 or 15 years. Hell.

Anyway, it told the Batman/Robin origin story pretty well. Yet even without that, the basic elements ought to be pretty tamper-proof.

Lookit:

* Bruce Wayne's parents are murdered before his eyes. He swears vengeance on all criminals in his city and makes his way in the world alone, training himself to be a crimefighter. He returns years later to become the Batman. He'll fight the criminals who escape the law, and he'll do it without sinking to their level (i.e., killing them or endangering innocent people to get them).

* Some time later, he's attending a performance of the circus (possibly staking it out undercover because he's worried about mob influence on it), and he witnesses the tragic death of the Flying Graysons. He watches young Dick Grayson's world shatter into a million pieces, and he can't help but see himself in the young boy's experience.

* To make matters worse, he realizes that the Flying Graysons didn't just die in an accident, they were -murdered-. Bruce's heart goes out to Dick on every possible level. He reaches out to this kid, with whom he has so much in common, and he takes him in. He, more than anyone else, knows exactly what the boy is going through, so he offers the kid the only hope for closure and justice that he knows how to offer. Being very much like a younger Bruce Wayne, Dick responds positively to this offer because it's exactly what he needs. He needs an adult who understands what he's going through to offer him a working solution to the pain he's going through.

(Also, young Mr. Grayson gets to swing through the air with the greatest of ease in a colorful costume every night and work with the likes of Batman, Superman, the Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. What better life could a kid raised in the circus ask for?)

Bruce Wayne isn't some psycho in need of being humanized or some unstable loon with pederastry or child-endangerment on his mind. He's -already- a human being, and he's just trying to help someone who's dealing with a pain he himself has been dealing with all his life--and he's trying to help in a way he always wished somebody could have helped -him- when he needed it.

I mean, dang it, how hard is that to understand?

--Carl.

[funjoe]

Originally posted by Mr Wesley
I be glad to be seein' Gravity some of the reviewin' love. 'Tis a great title for certain, and if Red Dog Quesada doesn't be makin' this a continuin' series soon, I'll be makin' him to walk the plank!

Arrgh!

I see you ARRRRRRRR celebratin' Talk Like a Pirate Day.

[KID FANTASTIC]

ITS TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!!!!! OH MAN I CAN'T BELIEVE I SPACED!!!!!!!!!

[Troy Brownfield]

Originally posted by Kolimar
Just a detail: IIRC, Drax was created by Kronos the Titan.

Drax was actually created by Mentor with the help of Kronos. Mentor employed his late father to capture the spirit essence of Drax's human form and help him place it in a body constructed of earth. So theoretically, Kronos did indeed play a part; he just did it at the behest of Mentor, who was the driving force behind Drax's creation.