Pick of the Brown Bag

October 7, 2012

by 

Ray Tate

Tucked in this week's Pick of the Brown Bag: Batman, Batgirl, Combat Jacks, Frankenstein Agent of SHADE, Honey West, MacGyver, Red She-Hulk, Team 7, Vampirella and Dark Shadows, Wolverine and the new toy-related Amecomi Wonder Woman.  I'll also review the new film Taken 2.

"Begin at the Beginning and go on until you come to an end. Then stop."--Lewis Carroll

Here are four reasons why you should pick up Ame-Comi Wonder Woman

Any questions? 

The fifth reason is that Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray produce a script that should be the basis for a new Wonder Woman television series.  They balance the idea of Amazon might and a wish for peace.  They characterize the sanest Hippolyta since the pre-Crisis.  No, scratch that.  Actually, Gray and Palmiotti's Hippolyta is even more competent than the original.  Steve Trevor is surprisingly likable, not patronizing, helpless, or equatively macho, and Wonder Woman is utterly awesome.  Brutal in battle, but hilarious when combatting with her mother, Diana exhibits a consistent exasperation with men.  Only Trevor impresses her with his intelligence and tact.

It feels like ages since Batgirl was stabbed in the back by Knightfall, yet it's been only one issue.  Perhaps, because the zero issue spanned a year of Batgirl history.  Perhaps, because Batgirl's back is a touchy subject.  Whatever the reason, Simone imbues the book with a sense of relief.  Page after page, Batgirl kicks Knightfall's ass.

Is this plausible? Yes.  Adrenaline, as Batgirl herself suggests, keeps Babs standing and dulls most of the pain.  No doubt, she also picked up a few tricks from Batman.  

Ed Benes who demonstrated his renewed investment in the DCU on the zero issue of Batgirl choreographs Batgirl's takedown of Knightfall.  Each of Batgirl's moves characterize her as a superb martial artist, and Ulisses Areola makes the bout a colorful one.  

As Batgirl beats on Knightfall, she psychologically analyzes her opponent's personality.  Unlike her assessment of Grendel, who she saw as damaged and possibly redeemable, Batgirl sees no hope for Knightfall.  Ironically, Knightfall ostensibly has the same ends as the Batman Family.  Her methods are harder and unforgiving.  To Batgirl, however, the degree that Knightfall seeks is unacceptable, and Simone pays off Batgirl's faith in humanity by giving her a respite from an unusual Gotham City source.  

Although Batgirl is advertised as a prologue to the Joker ushering in "Death of the Family," the connection to the arc is brief.  Indeed, the book ends with the remainder of Knightfall forming a Batgirl revenge squad that promises to trigger more thrills for the Darknight Damsel's audience.

Feel that charge of electricity in the air?  It's Batman.  Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo continue the rejuvenation of Batman by introducing the Joker to the new 52.  Technically speaking, the creative team did this during the zero issue.  With this chapter, Snyder confirms that the Joker was the Red Hood, a murderous, criminal gang leader, not the innocent dupe from The Killing Joke.  Batman in his early days chased the Red Hood through the Ace Chemical Plant, where the Joker escaped through a vat of unknown substances that altered his face into the parody of a playing card.

In Detective Comics, The Joker hired the Dollmaker to remove his face.  In Batman, the Joker reclaims his face, racks up a high body count, threatens Commissioner Gordon and places Harley Quinn in a position she has never been in.  

The Joker appears to have been hurt by Batman growing beyond their relationship.  In a tryst, Commissioner Gordon would be considered a third wheel, and obsession doesn't lend itself to threesomes.  Snyder however plausibly alters the traditional deconstructionist romantic relationship between Batman and the Joker to that of playmate.  He turns a sadistic love affair into a more sensible kindergarten "friendship."  That's why the Joker accepts Gordon.  So, in the Joker's mind, he has three friends he used to play with in the sandbox.  Those friends grew up and left him behind.  Not that the Joker can grow up.

The arc is called "Death of a Family."  The Joker's murders ultimately eliminates the Batman's second and third cousins.  His immediate family, Nightwing, Red Robin and Batgirl, who appear with perfect pitch dialogue, are The Joker's main targets.

Although Batman primarily can be classified as drama, artist Greg Capullo starts the book with an emphasis on genuine comedy with Gordon and his twitchy mustache sharing a joke with Harvey Bullock.  The scene turns to abject terror when the Joker arrives and begins a system of fear in the dark.  Capullo then reassures readers with a potent depiction of Batman.

Despite the Joker's relative success, Snyder and Capullo have already set him up for an equally long drop.  It's in Harley Quinn.  The normally loyal henchwench is truly petrified of her once intended, and it's my guess that she will betray the Joker just because this Joker essentially killed the Mr. J. she knew.

If we accept Batman: The Animated Series as a basis for the continuity, and that's really the only place Harley ever had a history with the Joker, then the Joker isn't just cutting through his own history to emerge as his old self from the original Bob Kane and Bill Finger stories.

So where do you put the metahuman menaces that you've captured? In a floating jail of course.  Team 7 must infiltrate the impossible prison in order to discover why the facility and Lynch's headquarters lost contact.  Hint.  It involves a classic DC menace.  

Through Lynch's narration, writer Justin Jordan delights in detailing the faults of a team doomed to fray and disband.  Deathstroke for example is a sphincter.  Fairchild is all about the paycheck.  Dinah Drake is too good of a person to be on DC's answer to The Dirty Dozen.

At the same time, Jordan adds depth and dimension to the characters who will likely carry Team 7 into the future.  Characters that we never met before like Summer Ramos, the second best pilot on the planet according to Lynch, will probably form the core of the present day group.  Assuming of course Team 7 survives the transition.

Jesus Merino has an intriguing task.  How does he equip and arm the team without making them seem like nineties rejects.  Of course, Deathstroke always will look that way.  He's a nineties character, but the others sport some sharp science fiction hardware, like funky goggles for flying sophisticated planes, more Trek than Youngblood.  As well, Merino keeps Dinah and Kurt svelte in their spywear.

Merino evokes the feeling that despite the presence of anti-heroes, Team 7 still takes place in the DC universe.  Although, he's playing with a group of sanctioned mercenaries and a horror setting, he never lets you forget that you're in a place of wonder turned nightmare.  That's where Blackhawk failed.  It seemed too far removed from the DCU.  Team 7 with its familiar names and the creature they fight remains firmly secured to the whole of the new 52.

Combat Jacks operates with the same plot as Team 7 but on a planetary scale.  An away team of marines, not mercenaries, descends on a terraformed planet that lost contact with the commonwealth.  Their investigation leads to death and giant pumpkins.

I can't say whether or not Combat Jacks is an ongoing series or a Halloween special.  This issue is definitely holiday themed, and Mark McKenna, Jason Baroody and Kate Finnegan deserve special credit for getting this book out in a timely fashion.

Writer McKenna makes excellent use of his gourdian menace and conveys his enjoyment of the hilarious pumpkin-related dissing and science fiction styled pulpy terror from the vineyard absurdity.  

Artist Baroody plays it straight with anatomy, proportion, realistic expression and streamlined tech, which makes the visual presentation an attractive poe-faced number that serves to increase the level of comedy.  The sublime colors of Finnegan further the pretense of a serious situation and not a zany antic.

Here's hoping that this isn't the last we've seen of Combat Jacks, either as a dramatic excursion in the field of space opera or as a comedy/horror foray.

In the zero issue of Frankenstein Agent of SHADE we learned the origin of the Frankenstein monster, and yes, it was similar to the Mary Shelley version.  More to the point, we found out about the device Victor Frankenstein used to create his masterpiece.  In addition, unlike Shelley's original, writer Matt Kidnt presented Victor as an outright villain obsessed with killing his creation.

For the past two issues, Frankenstein after quitting SHADE discovered a community of former SHADE operatives living inside the belly of a Leviathan from the sea.  This issue finds Frank leaving the monster for dry land at the behest of Father Time, leader of SHADE.  

SHADE is under assault by the Rot, the pervasion sweeping through Swamp Thing, Animal Man and soon Justice League Dark.  In Frankenstein, the Rot picks a rather unexpected representative for its particular brand of evil.  In addition to this twist, Kidnt introduces an unusual yet sensible second surprise for readers of Rotworld that justifies Frank's participation in the weird book storyarc.

Alberto Ponticelli produces powerful artwork detailing the rise of Frankenstein's greatest enemy and the ramifications of the Rot's assault on the DCU.  He also distinguishes Frank as the hero of the piece with imagery fitting the sobriquet.  Frank charging forth on a magnificent steed isn't as stirring as Frank leaping out of his plane to drive a sword through Luftwaffe aircraft, but what is? The symbolism is still unmistakeable and quite eye-catching.

Has it really come to this? Am I that desperate for a Tigra series that I'll stoop to reading Red She-Hulk.  Yes.  I am that desperate.  Anything for Tigra.

Still, with Jeff Parker writing Red She-Hulk how bad can it be? Not bad at all.  First, for those not in the know, Red She-Hulk is Betty Ross, Bruce Banner's ex-wife.  Her surprising transformation isn't without some merit.  Marvel's claim is that everybody who witnessed Bruce Banner's first Gamma Bomb test was exposed to the radiation.  It even makes sense that the radiation would have taken this long to affect Betty and her father who turned out to be Red Hulk.  Bruce was at ground zero.  Betty and her father witnessed the blast from the "safety" of the bunker.

It was humankind mucking about with primal forces that changed all that day into Hulks, and Betty took it as a warning.  Humans are not as smart as they think, and the army's nuts for trying to hack into the genome to create obedient super soldiers.  That's the premise of Jeff Parker's Red She-Hulk.  Betty's out to stop the program before it starts.

Art by Carlos Pagulayan and Val Staples

Reginald Fortean, love the name choice, heads Echelon the team of superhero wannabes, and the lion's share of the book devotes itself to depicting Red She-Hulk fighting the super soldiers as well as the source of the super soldiers' powers.  At first the uber-Janissaries seem evenly matched against Betty, but then you realize that Betty's just been testing them.  

It's not surprising that Betty might turn into the Red She-Hulk.  It is surprising that Betty has this kind of intelligence.  In the original Stan Lee/Jack Kirby stories, Betty was nothing special.  She was a pampered daddy's girl who had the habit of referring to Bruce Banner as a "Milksop" while making eyes at the handsome, mustachioed Captain.

We can trace some of Betty's increase in intellect to John Byrne's run in The Incredible Hulk.  There, all around idiot Doc Samson separated Banner from the Hulk.  The schism left a mindless Hulk lacking Banner's ability to stop his rage.  Banner intended to kill the Hulk and established "Hulk-Busters!" "I ain't afraid of no Hulk."  Betty was a constant presence on the team, and she was involved in the scientific end of things.

Whatever the reason, this increase in brainpower distinguishes Red She-Hulk from plain ol' She-Hulk, who has a fine legal mind but not scientific acumen.  Ironically, Red She-Hulk is more like another character John Byrne created as a gag on the Hulk for his Superman run.

Kitty Faulkner Alias Rampage

Vampirella was never meant to be read by kids.  That's not to say Vampirella was pornographic.  Far from it.  Oh, there were nudes in the backup stories, but Vee herself was modest.

Despite being one of the contenders for least dressed super-heroine in literature, Vampirellla seldom revealed much.  Side boob and shadowed nudity was perfectly valid, but the adult nature of Vampirella's adventures lay more in the sophistication of storytelling, the blood-drinking, always taboo, and Vee's opponents frequently being worshippers of Satan, Cthulhu or Chaos.  

Marc Andreyko and artist Jose Malaga use this issue of Vampirella to payoff the adolescents that were always reading with the hope of seeing our title hero doff her clothing or rut some lucky disciple.  

The issue is packed with nudity; none of it veiled as you can see the goods beneath the steam, and while the sex isn't explicit, the issue drips in it.  Artist Jose Malaga makes certain there's more than a modicum of taste and definitely a sense of proportion to all the couples involved.  Mind you, Vee, being as contrite as usual, dons more clothing than she normally wears.

There is a story here.  With Manhunter's Marc Andreyko, how could there not be?  We discover for example who has been abducting the women in New York City.  We already knew that the Ripper was involved, but in Dark Shadows and Vampirella, the mistress reveals her identity, another infamous historical personage leading to decadent mind-scapes eerily rendered by Malaga and colorist Thiago Ribeiro. 

Furthermore as Quentin and Pantha find common interest, literally and figuratively.  Barnabas and Vampirella clash when culture is the subject.  Now, some could construe this butting of heads as out of character for Vee, but her liberalism was a given in all her adventures.  She never needed to speak out.  In other words, throw a liberal in a room with Romney-bots, and you'll get an earful.

Andreyko includes a scene that would be in any other book a complete ripoff of Justice League where Superman fights Wonder Woman while under an enchantment.  The difference is that Barnabas and Vampirella are about as far away from the untarnished champions of DC as you can get, and the inside joke because of the protagonists' personae is thoroughly amusing.

Honey West returns this week, and she looks Anne Frantastic thanks to the Phantom's Sylvestre Szilagyi.  A curvy bombshell not a zero-sized waif.  Honey karate chops her way through the second part of a mystery with clues that sadly went adrift due to the time span between issues.

Writer Trina Robbins however recoups her losses by fashioning an additional stand-alone fairplay puzzle that connects to Honey's investigation.  Needless to say Honey dopes out the new crime.

Robbins as well as constructing a strong detective story enriches the plot with the presence of a shifty private eye out to sample the Honey Pot, or is that all his intent? Whatever the reason, Honey's pet ocelot serves as her protector, and Szilagyi perfectly forms the taut musculature of the dangerous kitty.

Ridiculed by Side-Show Bob on The Simpsons, a joke due to Richard Dean Anderson's mullet, parodied by Saturday Night Live's "MacGruber," MacGyver has not stood the test of time, but it's time to admit something.  MacGyver wasn't a bad show.  Formulaic, sure, but promoting brain over brawn with well-researched jury-rigged escapes and defeats of world threats.

Compared to what's available now and the heyday of television from the sixties, MacGyver still at the very least is a B show.  When considering the vast wasteland of television that stretched from the seventies until the nineties when Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena: Warrior Princess and the X-Files changed everything, that's an achievement.  If the transfer to DVD wasn't of such reportedly poor quality, MacGyver might even be remembered fondly and establish a new audience.

MacGyver returned in three television films of various quality: the least being an Indiana Jones knockoff, the best dropping Mac in London to prevent a nuclear holocaust.  In these films, Mac had shorn his hockey-hair for a more sensible cut and ditched the Phoenix Foundation, as much as an honorable necessity as a creative decision since Dana Elcar suffered from glaucoma during the final seasons of the television series.

The writer and creator of MacGyver Lee David Zoltoff surfaces with a new Mac adventure, but this time in a new medium of choice.  Now, if you ask me MacGyver is tailor made for comics, always was.  So really all you needed to do was get a comic book writer that watched the show.  Tony Lee appears to be a fan, and that's not really a surprise since MacGyver was more popular in England than here in America. 

In the comic book, MacGyver visits an old Biology professor friend of his.  The modern, cutting-edge tale concentrates on the value of genetic crop modification and a company with a name that rhymes with Monsanto.  Meanwhile, somebody put a hit on MacGyver and just for laughs added a ticking clock.  For every day MacGyver breathes, the bounty loses a million dollars.  I have to say that this is a novel twist to the hit man subgenre.

Art by Will Sliney and Ciaran Lucus

MacGyver has of course no idea what's going, but being the master of focus, he tables that issue, and concentrates on the matter at hand.  He naturally uses the objects around him to combat armed gunmen and escape from a makeshift brig.  An undercover Interpol operation spices the plot even farther, and since MacGyver and the hit man have no personal animosity their conversation is very entertaining.  Various characters also attempt to use Mac's reputation against him, but fairplay doesn't equivocate to naiveté.

Though it may surprise some readers of the POBB, after John Byrne quit The Uncanny X-Men, I seldom touched a Wolverine book.  I never got into the whole WOLVERINE movement of comic books that coincided with the dark nineties.  Still, this is the second month where I bought a Wolverine comic book.  One can be excused as being a massive fan of Alan Davis, but this issue of Wolverine isn't so easy to dismiss.  Perhaps this will help.

Better? I loved Nextwave.  I still miss Nexwave, and while the team apparently disbanded, they're still here and there in the Marvel Universe, mostly in character, sometimes a little bit more effective than they were in the comedic Nextwave.  Elsa Bloodstone is no exception.  She appeared in the hilarious Legion of Monsters mini-series, and now she makes a characteristic cameo in Wolverine.

On the other hand, a bad writer could have made me avoid Elsa Bloodstone's appearance like the plague.  Look what Peter Milligan did to Namora and Jimmy Woo, tainting The Agents of ATLAS in a manner similar to the ass who attempted to take over Clandestine when Alan Davis left the series.  Davis returned triumphant, dismissing the ass' designs as nothing more than young Rory's nightmare.  Wolverine was there as well.  See a pattern?

Cullen Bunn wowed me with The Deep, a mini-series that I expected to hurt.  Instead, Bunn put together a team of defacto Defenders that were exhilarating.  Unfortunately, Marvel took this to mean that readers wanted to see another group of Defenders being ushered in by a different writer.  Bunn then knocked me over with Fearless in which Valkyrie takes the center stage of awesomeness.

So, I guess Wolverine is the big time for Cullen Bunn, and Bunn does it again.  Do I know anything about Melita and her relationship with Logan.  Nope.  Neither does he, and I haven't a clue about his selective amnesia.  Who is this Vanessa Baker Tinkerbell that keeps popping up? No idea.

Bunn though puts it all together along with Elsa Bloodstone's guest appearance to craft a free-wheeling, catch-up or die adventure.  Now, the cover although dull isn't exactly without merit.  Bunn sets up Wolverine in a flashback that's exactly like an Indiana Jones excavation, but with one crucial difference, Wolverine doesn't need to use his brains to avoid the gauntlet.  He just runs through it and lets his mutant healing factor deal with everything.

Paul Pelletier and David Meikis, who puts a smooth polish to Pelletier's pencils, punches up the action in these scenes and those with Elsa.  They go positively whimsical when Vanessa Baker shows up.  It's this kind of flux that you just don't expect in a Wolverine comic book that makes it all worthwhile.

Taken 2 is about vengeance.  The relations of the Albanian slavers that ex-operative Bryan Mills decimated in Taken target he and his family, and as a result the sequel to Taken isn't a chase.  It's an extraction.  

There's a miniature chase to be sure, but it's not like the relentless pursuit across multiple platforms of transportation and settings that Bryan undertook to save his daughter Kim Mills; embodied by actress Maggie Grace.  That chase sped through the whole film.  Taken 2 largely takes place in one location.  There lies the challenge.

Lots of low budget films use two actors, one closet and a lot of imagination.  Most often these movies fail because no matter how good the intentions or the actors, the setting is static.  

Taken 2 centers most of the the action at the way-station of the criminals, but the cameras fly to the rooftops of turkey, the direction follows the hidden dungeons below.  Despite being largely confined in one place, Taken 2 moves, and as a result it succeeds at the core.  It replicates the adrenaline rush of the first film without copying it.

Liam Neeson is a very interesting actor.  He could have been one of those dry, staid actors that do Regency films and that's it.  He in fact did a few of those period pieces, probably as a result of his portrayal of Oskar Schindler, who is in Schindler's List make no mistake as much of a symbol of good as Neeson's first heroic portrayal Darkman.

Neeson instead of becoming known for the Edwardian frocked gentleman embraced his roots and took on roles in which he cut through an Albanian slaver network like a laser beam through gold, led the A-Team as Hannibal Smith, fought off wolves in Alaska and conveyed the intensity of a man with "a very particular set of skills." 

Taken spotlit an underbelly of corruption in Europe and a Balkan criminal network victimizing women, but the theme still lacked overall misogyny.  Rather it just seemed that the movie revealed for some, confirmed for others a sad truth.  Some subhumans, emphasis on some, see women as chattel and commodities.

In Taken 2, Kim a veteran of trauma, actually becomes a protagonist, not as tactically impressive as her father who proceeds to systematically ends the Albanian legacy, but still effective in her own right as a resourceful, smart girl who learned from her horrendous experience.  That shared history furthermore allows Bryan Mills to see his daughter as an asset.  

Famke Janssen has an even more difficult task of conveying strength while being completely helpless.  Needless to say, she makes Lenore warmer to Bryan and harsh to the avengers of evil men.  At the same time, she is not Mrs. Peel.  She is a normal woman thrown into an abnormal situation.  She acquits herself as well as anybody possibly could have.

There is simply no way that Lenore can run, hide or free herself from the literal chains that hold her down.  Credit the filmmakers and the writers to make all her misfortunes just that.  They catalyze her capture by fouling Bryan Mills' characteristic belief in the perfect plan.  He can't predict everything, and just one tiny butterfly throws his entire scheme into chaos.  As a result, Lenore is taken, and not through a mistake she, the woman makes.

After seeing Taken I really didn't believe there would be a sequel.  I thought logistically how could there be? If you abduct Kim again, you would create the pretense that she just attracts trouble and turn high impact drama into unwitting comedy.  I'm happy to say that Taken 2 is a different movie, one that grows organically out of the first film.  

Pick of the Brown Bag

October 3, 2012

by 

Ray Tate

This week in the Pick of the Brown Bag we look at Animal Man, Avengers Academy, Batwing, Bionic Woman, Detective Comics, Doctor Who, Futurama, Legends of the Dark Knight, Earth 2, Red Sonja, Smallville, Swamp Thing and World's Finest.

Congratulations to the Republican Party and their successful efforts to undermine voter--Oh, wait--The Pennsylvania Voter ID Law is not, repeat not, in effect this election, which means you do not, repeat not, need to show ID to any Republican stooge that demands it at the polls. 

Awwwww, poor GOP, it looks like your underhanded attempt to reintroduce Jim Crow laws have come to naught and President Obama will remain our Commander-and-Chief.  Suck it, Republicans.  Suck it.

Let the Games Begin

This is an interesting issue of Batwing because it positions Batwing in a role usually occupied by Batman.

Writer Judd Winnick and artist Marcus introduce a female African super-hero named Dawn.  She fights for the innocent being swept up by the mind-controlling menace known as the Goddess.  Dawn has personal reasons for this crusade, but like the Dark Knight's Family members, she's there to save lives.

Dawn looks like a street-level vigilante, a sort of more lively, more resonant post-Crisis Huntress, and she does quite a bit of damage to the cult before ending up over her head.  That's when Batwing enters the picture, just like Batman would have.

Now, Batwing hasn't been completely absent from the adventure.  In his secret identity of David Zavimbe, Batwing questioned one of the captured cultists, saved a South African city from being turned into a crater, courtesy of a brainwashed military officer and earned disdain from his fellow cops by being incorruptible.  Only female Officer Kia who takes cuts from the booty to maintain her standing amidst the brotherhood of the badge will speak to him. 

Ultimately though what makes Batwing so fascinating is how he interacts with Dawn, becoming the hero looked up to by all the innocents of Africa as well as his fellow champions.  I knew from the debut that Batwing would succeed where others failed.  He's the perfect bridge between Batman and a novel crimefighter, and you get the sense that David is as essential to Batwing as Bruce is to Batman.  He cannot be replaced.

John Layman debuts as the new writer of Detective Comics, and his first story is a tightly plotted opening chapter that still has a beginning, middle and end.  

On his nightly patrol, Batman uncovers a pattern of crime.  Too far away, he calls in Nightwing.  At the tail end of the chain, Batman finds a displaced assassin from Hong Kong that he deals with in quick fashion.  Meanwhile, Oswald Cobblepot plots a scheme to humiliate one of the wealthiest philanthropists in Gotham City.

Batman's sense of humor lacing the narration is the first thing you notice in Layman's story.  In the right hands, Batman can be hilarious, but his sense of humor is oh-so twisted.  Batman wouldn't find your average sitcom funny.  Come to think of it, neither do I.  Instead, he makes jokes about the pain he inflicts on the criminal population of Gotham, and you laugh with him not at him.  His creepy comedic chops perfectly suit his character and exhibits his contempt for law-breakers.  

The next thing of note is that this incarnation of Batman plays well with others.  Batman alerts Nightwing immediately.  Batman trusts his former partner.  He puts his faith in his aide-de-camp's skills.  The camaraderie represents a massive upheaval to twenty-three years of bad Batman characterization.  

Too many writers attempted to frame Batman as a loner and a misanthrope, which conflicted with even his earliest adventures when he killed his enemies.  

Batman is now as he should have been.  Layman works well in the new 52 paradigm.  Batman operates with a family--Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Robin--and a team of superheroes--the Justice League.  None of the teamwork takes the edge off however, and Layman demonstrates just how scary Batman can be.

Artist Justin Fabok illustrates the Batman with rare gusto.  He appears to know exactly how much of an honor he has been given.  So, he doesn't blow it.  Batman looks resonant yet realistic.

On the opposite end, the new 52 erased the Penguin's dubious and inconsistent history.  Layman characterizes the Penguin as one part Batman Returns, a grotesque bird, one part 1960s Batman, a vain criminal, but set in the superior web of history DC now forges.  

Oswald Cobblepot in Batman Returns was literally dumped by his parents, but if you observe the scenes, you can also see that they were a well-to-do couple.  In the modern cosmology, the Cobblepots are one of the founding families of Gotham City, and the Penguin is the flip side of Bruce Wayne.  This as well alludes to Batman Returns:

"You're just jealous because I'm a genuine freak, and you have to wear a mask!

"You might be right."

The back-up tale in Detective is also worth reading.  Layman considers how and why criminals still try to operate in Gotham City.  Artist Andy Clarke renders highly detailed work that combines the traditions of different periods.  For example, "Miami" bears a look from the seventies.  Martin's all Sex Pistols punk.  Batman is a constant, unchanging force seen in the flashbacks.

Batman debuted in Detective.  He later received an eponymous companion title.  From there, he guest-starred with Superman in World's Best which became World's Finest then took over The Brave and the Bold.  In the nineties, DC would feature Batman in more books: Chronicles, Gotham Knights, Confidential, just to name a few.  The titles and formats were often different, the direction frequently the same.  One title however proved to be an exception.

Legends of the Dark Knight offered readers a reprieve from the badly written Batman of post-Crisis DC continuity.  The new 52 is mostly awesome.  No relief is actually needed.  If anything there should be a Legends of the Man of Steel, although Scott Lobdel could turn things around, but Dark Knight runs along the same lines as the previous title.  It however is an anthology of short stories.

In the absolutely rib-tickling "The Butler Did It!"  Batman finds his own hubris crashing down on him courtesy of a humble figure in the dark.  I'm not all that fond of Jeff Lemire's art as much as his writing, but his quirky cartooning fits the off-kilter mood of the tale.

The atmosphere changes and in fact literally disappears for J.G. Jones' gorgeous choreography of Batman's battle against Amazo, on and out of the JLA satellite. I haven't the foggiest idea what medium Jones uses, but if I were to guess, I would go with oil painting. 

The story neatly exemplifies what Legends of the Dark Knight is about.  Batman for example refers to J'onn, but the Martian Manhunter has never been a member of the new 52 Justice League.  The tale actually reads like an early Justice League animated series episode, but of course the lovely realism of Jones' art distinguishes it from that particular universe.  It's certainly not the DCU of old since Batman actually seems lively and human.  Rather, Jonathan Larsen's tale blends the best of worlds for pure entertainment.

The final story could have definitely appeared on Batman the Animated Series.  Illustrated by Nicola Scott, she designs Robin like Tim Drake, but writer Tom Tyler characterizes him as the jokey Dick Grayson, and his Batman's terse dialogue alludes to Kevin Conroy's gravelly voice.  The story is a sweetly delivered short in which the Dynamic Duo prevent a crime from occurring in Gotham City.

Batman returns in Smallville, although writer Bryan Q. Miller ingeniously suggests he never left.  He gives a good explanation for Superman's and Batman's toe-toe, and the Dark Knight comes up with numerous means to delay and negate Superman's powers.  The melee which lasts a good seven pages, emphasis on the good, looks beautiful when directed by Jamal Igle.   Marc Deering's inks enhance Igle's tight pencils and Carrie Strachen gives the entire book a broad palette, leaning toward the blue and red spectra of course.  

Surprisingly, the duel in Smallville represents the least humorous battle pitting Batman against Superman. Compare the battle in Smallville with say the brilliant means in which Batman stops Superman in Man of Steel, the ruse he sets up for The Dark Knight Returns or the Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams classic World's Finest turning Superman and Batman into friendly rivals, fighting usually for charity or on the behalf of a dying wish.  Nor is Batman secretly attempting to save Superman's life from a Kryptonite dragon ala Batman/Superman Animated.

In Smallville, there's no lightness in either hero's touch, no secret collusion, no past friendship or mutual respect.  There's a sense that these heroes really want the other one out of the way, and unlike every other tale, Miller opts for the obvious outcome, one eschewed by other writers.  Superman wins.

There's a remarkable order of calculation on Superman's part.  You don't expect such tactical expertise from the Big Blue Boy Scout, but that's just it.  Smallville's Superman is Superman how he would be in the real world.  Although he's a symbol for optimism and hope, he reveals an edge honed from the past ten seasons of the television show.  He symbolizes that these attributes of humanity need not be considered naive, weak or passive.

The story ends with Batman and Superman working together for the greater good.  Essentially, Superman changes Batman for the better, and that's something nobody could have predicted.

This issue of Smallville also pits Nightwing (Batgirl) against Green Arrow, who's busy unraveling a mystery on the side with his wife Chloe Sullivan.  The ghostly Tess Mercer matches willpower against her very alive brother Lex Luthor.  Being her spunky best Lois Lane gathers information for her superpowered intended and permits the World's Finest to get the job done.  All in all, a meaty, superbly plotted issue of Smallville that would have blasted the competition on television.  We'll just have to settle for another excellent incarnation of Batman and Batgirl in the comics.

World's Finest offers a tame stand-alone in comparison to the first arc in which Helena Wayne and Kara Zor-L fought the possible Apokiliptan menace of Hakkou.  This is essentially a really good inventory issue, a place-keeper and fine jumping on point for people who missed the first enviable knockout punch by Paul Levitz and George Perez.  He splits up the World's Finest team for solo flashback adventures in their more natural environs of light and dark.

Levitz transports Power Girl to CERN to investigate the possibility of using the large hadron collider to open a portal to the earth two universe.  Instead, something robotic comes out of the schism.  In Huntress' short, Ms. Wayne learns about candle-light vigils supporting rape victims.  Intriguingly, earth two since it was at war with Apokolips became more civilized.  So at-home-crime took a back seat to simple survival against Parademons and Darkseid's other forces.

Perez takes a breather this issue; his art only manifests as wraps in which Huntress tests Power Girl's limits.  Jerry Ordway makes a welcome substitute for Perez, or Maguire depending on your viewpoint. 

Ordway has had a history with Power Girl, but he most recently focused on the Kryptonian in two issues of JSA from 2004, with mixed results.  Excerpts from my reviews:

Jerry Ordway's Power Girl is a revelation of comic book beauty.  Ordway gives her the dignity and a musculature befitting her previous resonance as the earth-two Superman's cousin.  As expected, because Jerry Ordway is illustrating her as a woman instead of some throwback juvenile fantasy, she looks genuinely sexy and more important competent.  He gives her also an air of authority when in full uniform….

The big battle between Power Girl and the molten dude becomes undermined because somebody wanted to make damn sure that her breasts ballooned and her back be uber-curved to jut out her buttocks like apples agitated by acromegaly.  To add insult to injury, "ze leetle window" in Power Girl's costume is burned open to expose even more flesh!  This is a nauseating defilement of Power Girl when contrasted by her appearance in the last issue of JSA where Jerry Ordway honored the earth-two character…

My assumption was that the inkers sabotaged Ordway's artwork.  I never knew for sure, but bad inking can kill the intentions of any artist no matter how good he or she may be.  Of course, it could also have been the editor to blame, ordering the art be changed, or hey, maybe Ordway simply had a bad day.  Regardless of past reasons, in World's Finest, Ordway redeems himself.

In the new 52, Power Girl while still shall we say gifted isn't as bountiful as she was.  So, that more serious representation gives Ordway greater leeway when depicting Power Girl as a person rather than a pair of melons that happen to have a Kryptonian attached.  In a manner similar to JSA, Power Girl loses her clothing during the fight, but the loss acts as a gender twist to time-honored artistic license.  

I'd be shocked if this wasn't an apology from Ordway to all his fans for that lousy issue of JSA.

Ordway is mostly associated with the death of the Huntress in The Crisis on Infinite Earths.  It would have been nice to see him renew his artistic acquaintance with Helena Wayne again, but Wes Craig and Serge Lapointe produce an attractive, expressionistic visual that compliments Levitz's terse dialogue for Helena.

The scenario also underscores the difference between Huntress, daughter of the Bat and the Cat, and the generic post-Crisis Huntress.  The energy she possesses, the attitude is just so concrete, so vibrant and so much better.

James Robinson differentiates his Earth 2 from the previous model.  Behind the scenes, we learn an international effort, acting much like UNIT from Doctor Who, attempted to recreate wonders such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.  Hawkgirl and Atom were two of the results.  They now team with the Flash and Green Lantern, the most inspiring gay superhero since Xena and Gabrielle.  Meanwhile, the actual New World Order decides to mimic the plot of The Avengers film.

That's not to say that I wouldn't still give Earth 2 four bullets back in my Silver Bullet days.  There's enough freshness to excuse the mirroring of The Avengers.  For instance, Green Lantern and Grundy could have easily paralleled the Rot from Swamp Thing and Animal Man, but the Grey behaves differently than the Rot.  

Whereas the Rot simply wishes to destroy and kill, the Grey acts malevolent for the purpose of rebirth.  The Grey's assumption is that the earth is done.  However, Green Lantern attempts to communicate with the Grey to convince it otherwise.  Putting aside the philosophical undercurrent, this gives Nicola Scott and colorist Alex Sinclair the excuse to go nuts.

When Swamp Thing enters the Rot, he finds himself in a future where the Rot won.  The cosmic disease took over all but a few heroes.  I'm sure Batman's still around somewhere, plotting one of his masterstrokes, but for the time being, the Rot doesn't want a Deadman like Boston Brand, and it can't touch a servant of the Green, like Poison Ivy.

Ivy's presence in Swamp Thing continues to bolster my belief that she makes a better hero than villainess.  She was great in her debut in Birds of Prey and made an effective ally in Dark Knight.  All of these moments allude to her richer characterization from Batman The Animated Series, and the spin off comic books.  

In Swamp Thing, she's almost valiant, and Yanick Paquette now comfortable in his proving positive that he can illustrate more than just babes, renders Ivy quite gorgeously.  She and Abby both look like actual women rather than slices of cheesecake.  The natural colors of Nathan Fairbairn furthermore separate them from the chafe of bad girl art.

Animal Man's journey into the Rot parallels Swamp Thing's trek.  Buddy Baker as well finds horror in the future but also hope.

Jeff Lemire saves most of Justice League Dark including my favorite Black Orchid, Beast Boy and surprisingly Steel from the machinations of the Rot.  It's disturbing to see Supergirl under the influence, but on the bright side Batwoman falls victim in flashback.  Old Animal Man fans will be amused to see Buddy Baker battling Hawkman.  An incarnation of the Thanagarian made a memorable appearance in the Grant Morrison series. 

Steve Pugh's and Yanick Paquette's art generally speaking compliments each other.  Both opt for a heightened sense of realistic proportion while detailing action-filled horror that echoes the Resident Evil films.  

The Rot acts in the same way as the T-Virus, using mass as raw matter to recreate humans into monsters.  Sadly, there's no Milla Jovovich present, but Animal Man is still worth reading.  Although you can skip either Animal Man or Swamp Thing since either essentially relates the same story just with different characters and neither overlaps.

The future's much brighter in Futurama Comics where the Planet Express crew get a science fiction makeover courtesy of Professor Farnsworth. 

Writer Ian Boothby injects some real science into the proceedings.  The crew must be transmitted to robot bodies in order to survive the inhospitable to organics atmosphere of a robot pleasure planet.  Think of it as a less lethal planet Venus.

At the same time Boothby adds depth to the Professor's son Ignar, the third stooge of Mother's trio of evil-doing sons.  Boothby also makes use of a classic tradition in sci-fi.  No pleasure planet is without a catch.  For example, the equal opportunity sex planet in Star Trek the Next Generation had a most lethal penalty for stepping on the grass.

Boothby cleverly uses the invulnerability of robots against reader expectations.  He introduces a really cunning trap that makes perfect sense in the Futurama universe and provides a superb punchline that boost Ignar's standing.

Artists Tone Rodriquez, Andrew Pepoy and colorist Robert Stanley let their imagination run free on the robot planet, and at the same time create resonable facsimiles of Fry, Leela and Zoidberg in the automatic.  As well, they incorporate actual suspenseful moments and a sense of dramatic wonder from the alien landscapes.

You might wonder why IDW is renumbering Doctor Who even if the Doctor hasn't yet regenerated and Matt Smith's number eleven is still adventuring.  The answer lies in series six.  Presumably, everybody has now caught up on the ramifications of that season and now the book doesn't have to be so mum.  In addition, Andy Diggle takes over as writer and Mark Buckingham introduces himself as the Doctor's artist with water color mimicry by the reliable Charlie Kirchoff.  

Diggle proves himself to be a Doctor Who fan of old.  The Doctor has attempted to see the Great Exhibition on numerous occasions in the series, failing consistently as well, but finally the Doctor escorts Amy and Rory Williams (The Ponds) to the grand Victorian event.  Of course, it's at night and there's all sorts of time travel conundrums at work including perhaps a second Doctor roaming about.

In short, if you're a fan of the show, you'll love the series.  If you like excellent, stylish artwork, then you'll like IDW's latest Doctor Who, and if you're just interested in being distracted for a few minutes by an enjoyable tale, this is for you as well.

Jamie Summers takes down the Mission.  The organization consists of a group of criminals and ethically challenged doctors that prey upon those bestowed with bionics to cater to the sickly Romneys of the world.  

The pure certainty in which Jamie systematically decimates the Mission is almost comical more so with Dan Leister perfectly carrying out the timing dictated by writer Paul Tobin. 

Apart from the sheer use of bionic strength, Jamie's strategy also carries some heavy weight against OSI, where Oscar Goldman appears to be having a stroke after seeing what Jamie did.

Jamie no longer with the OSI appears to be punishing them for not taking better care of their agents, and she definitely has a point.  Jamie's solution to the problem will have ramifications to the agency and the U.S. government.  This will no doubt make her even less of a person non grata in the intelligence community despite her effectiveness.  Of course, that might have been part of her plan, given how Tobin characterizes her as a genius level intellect.

The Mission may be dead, but a new menace rises from the ashes.  However, he may just prove more dangerous to his friends rather than his enemies, which include Nora, Jamie's friend who experiences unnecessary guilt over an accidental shot that caused an explosion ending one of the Mission's operatives.  The finale alludes to the original Six-Million-Dollar-Man pilot which was less slow motion antics and more a dramatic exploration of how a man might cope with becoming a cyborg, just as in Martin Cadin's novel on which the television series was based.

Red Sonja is also worth a look this week.  The She-Devil discovers honor in her opponent in Eric Trautmann's nasty little tale of duplicity.

Like a Robert E. Howard novel, the story catches the reader off guard, with what appeared to be a simple problem of barbarian hordes pillaging villages.  Sorcery and an a wizard's evil children complicate matters and instill a rage in Sonja that smolders thanks to artists Edgar Salazar and Adriano Lucus.

Last but not least, Avengers Academy bows out of the Marvel Universe with a farewell football game pitting Cadets against Wolverine's school of mutants.  Writer Christos Gage meets the potential for the comedy, but surprisingly most of it comes from Wolverine and his various opponents, which include Hank Pym and Tigra.

That's pretty much all you needed to sell me on the book.  Wolverine vs. Tigra is fan service even when Grummett positions her tail so abominably.

I shouldn't be the one telling professional artists how to draw Tigra, but why on earth would you make her tail a second spine?  Logically, it should arise out of the coccyx or tail bone, just above the rear, like this.

Bad tail placement aside, Tom Grummett has a lot of fun with Jocasta tasing players who use unnecessary roughness, and Ice Man and Hawkeye make a hilarious double-act.  Hazmat, Mettle and Rockslide supply a triangle of laughter as does Quicksilver and Warbird.  

I notice that not everybody likes the Shiar.  I suspect John Byrne might have something to do with that.  His likeness was called by the Watcher to witness the trial of Reed Richards, and he referred to Lillandra in most unflattering terms.  Technically speaking the Shiar didn't actually kill Jean Grey, they wiped out the Phoenix, but after that the perception of the bird people changed.

Avengers Academy isn't all fun and games however.  Finesse comes clean with X-23 about who actually killed Jeremy Briggs.  Kitty Pryde has a heart to heart with Veil, and the scene expresses how much the once youthful Kitty has grown.  Filled with sagacity to impart, Kitty is definitely teacher material.  One more issue to go until the terrible Avengers Arena begins.

Pick of the Brown Bag

September 26, 2012

by 

Ray Tate

Today in the Pick of the Brown Bag it's another zero week with All-Star Western, Aquaman, The Flash, Hawkman, the highly anticipated debut of Talon, Teen Titans and Superman.  I'll also discuss the Big Dog Ink flagship title Critter, and we'll visit the Alpha Quadrant with the TARDIS in Doctor Who/Star Trek as well as Phantom Lady and Doll Man.

"The Game is Afoot"

The fourth issue of Critter was okay, and that's a vast improvement.  The winning independent has been of late piss-poor due to the introduction of cat-themed, celebrity-status hungry super-team Purrfection.  Yuck. 

In this issue, writer Tom Hutchison and artist Fico Ossio at least focus on Critter's want to be an actual hero out to save the day and rescue the innocent.  Critter's roommate Gina also creates a new costume for her that's millions of lumens more brilliant than the nightmare she wore while enduring Purrfection.

On the other hand, Hutchison and Ossio introduce another publicity thirsty group of heroes called the In Crowd: Lasso Lass, Slipstream and Wing Boy.  We've met Slipstream before, and she's the only hero out of the handful that comes off as interesting and genuine.  Hutchison gives her a fascinating power that deserves more exploration; certainly more than the whole American Idol superhero phenomena he's got going as a major plot.  Hopefully, this obsession will end sooner than later.

Phantom Lady and Doll Man picks up where we left off.  Cyrus Bender is a Little Bad in the Big Bad Metropolis-based Bender family.  The family's patriarch killed Jennifer Knight's parents.  So, she's determined to bring them down.  Somebody will have to bring her down first.  

Two things immediately came to mind when witnessing this scene.  Compare the difference between the titillating Irving Klaw like bondage of the old Phantom Lady versus the actual life-threatening bondage experienced by the current Phantom Lady.

Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti employ the bindings for dramatic intent, but I'd be shocked if they weren't aware of the headlights meet rope history of the Phantom Lady.  

The humor underscores the imprisonment and provides relief.  Palmiotti and Gray give the scene an edge, but they don't want it to teeter into hardboiled territory.  They secure it to the realm of the superhero.  It's all in the execution.

Naturally, Phantom Lady doesn't so much as suffer a bean to the head.  Cyrus likes to play with his food, and his friend Warlock thinks he's nuts.  Warlock actually respects the Phantom Lady more when he refers to her as a cobra.  She's not to be trifled with.

Darrell Dane debuted as Doll Man at the end of last issue, but this issue, he enters in costume and rocket pack.  It's no real spoiler to say that Doll Man rescues Phantom Lady and takes her away to give her the tools to bring down Bender.  

What follows in the book is an overview of Jen's powers, training and her limits.  However, Palmiotti and Gray preclude the potential blandness of these scenes with dialogue tailored to the characters and an overall light touch.  It doesn't hurt that the scenes are so vividly illustrated by Cat Staggs, Tom Derenick and Jason Wright.

Gray's and Palmiotti's All-Star Western pretty much sticks to the old history of Jonah Hex but with deft Moritat artwork rather Ernie Chua mastery.  Palmiotti and Gray preserve Hex's Native American connections, the means by which Hex was scarred as well as his alcoholic father, but the duo also add the idea that Hex's father was once a decent man before he hit the bottle.  Woodson Hex's protection of his newborn son and wife from a Sheriff's corrupt posse exhibits remarkable heroism and ferocity, both traits prevalent in his son.  

Hex's father fills with hate as he quenches his addiction, but Hex's mother isn't exactly pristine either.  Her flaw lies in her weakness.  She could have taken Hex with her when she left his father.  She could have convinced the man she had taken up with to allow her son passage at least out of the hell he will endure.  She did not.

The writers offset the tragic past of Jonah Hex with an almost cheerful denouement.  Hex persevered and won.  He's a successful bounty hunter.  He bonded with allies like Nighthawk and Cinnamon.  He even crosses with women, old paramour Tullulah Black being his most recent bedmate. The actions of Hex's most recent past--risking his life in an inferno to save innocent strangers--indicate that he still can represent the best of humanity.  Frankly, given how life continuously kicked him in the ribs, Hex comes off as even more admirable.

In an amalgamated future, The Doctor wants Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the starship Enterprise to parlay with the Borg to defeat the Cybermen.  Jean-Luc refuses, instead taking the tactical option of bugging out and letting the cyborg races fight to the death like pantomime horses.

That sounded like a good plan, but in Doctor Who the plan that seems the most rational is flawed.  You don't attack Sontarans with bullets.  Even-though the potato-heads can be shot, they developed a contingency for defeating ordinary ammunition.  You can't let the Cybermen and the Borg fight because in the end, it's not an even match.

Amy Pond's courage and honesty, her faith in the Doctor sway Jean-Luc to entertain the Doctor's words and deeds, and in these scenes the creative team of Tiptons, Purcell and Woodward capture the charisma and lilt of Karen Gillan.  

With Amy's encouragement, The Doctor decides to lay his cards out on the table and take Jean-Luc on a tour of the future being rewritten.  He did something similar with Sarah Jane Smith in the episode "Pyramid of Mars," but not on such a grand scale.

All of these factors make Doctor Who/Star Trek a solid chapter in "Assimilation," but it's the flow of the Doctor's words which mirror the delivery of Matt Smith and his final Doctorish proclamation that make Doctor Who/Star Trek a jaw dropper.

Rob Liefield and Mark Poulton advance Thanagarian technology and culture.  Good.  They follow the pattern set by Justice League to introduce the Thanagarians as an actual winged race.  Even better.  They bring back Shayera.  Excellent.  They dump the reincarnation angle.  Fantastic!

THEN THEY CAST ALL THESE GOOD INTENTIONS TO THE FOUR WINDS!

This bloated, convoluted Savage Hawkman benefits from an astonishing interlocking tapestry of artwork characterizing plausible alien lifetimes, an extraterrestrial royal court and strange things that wheel in the sky, to paraphrase the Doctor.  

Illustrators Joe Bennett, Art Thibert and Guy Major should justifiably feel proud.  The art's so good that it would almost vindicate an oversize, hardback reprinting of the zero issue.  Almost.  Because Poulton and Liefield should be hanging their heads in shame.

The story's horribly xenophobic.  Emperor Provis, the ruler of Thanagar, listens to Katar Hol, presented as a pacifist on his home planet, and invites aliens from all over the galaxy to celebrate the recent peace.  Former enemies dine with new allies.  Alas, the Daemonites carry out the extermination plan for Native Americans discussed by some upper crust 18th century Europeans.  They introduce a molting virus that causes all the Thanagarians to lose their wings.

The optimistic hand of friendship gets hacked off by distrusting foreigners.  Oh, and by the way, why no follow through? If the Daemonites introduced plague, why did they not next invade Thanagar and conquer their old enemies?  

I'd like to think that this might be the writers suggesting that the molt and the alien presence on Thanagar was mere coincidence but the plotting just continues to wreak horrors on the reader's suspension of disbelief.  

Shayera's unbalanced bellicose brother Corsar succeeds Porvis and promptly invests Thanagar's economy in the magic beans of the Nth Metal.  Why?  Corsar says that it will help Thanagarians "fly again", but how? Oh, and they have spaceships.  I know it's not the same as soaring upon wing and prayer, but technically, these aliens haven't stopped flying, which begs the question of why did the Daemonites release the molt on this race in the first place? To punish them? Well, that seems stupid.  I mean Thanagar still has a space fleet, and it wasn't the boots on the ground or wings in the air that won their wars.  By the writing team's admission, superior starships and tactics won their wars.  The Thanagarians just liked to in addition bloody their beaks.

The mystical Old Ones, which the previous Emperor banished from the Court, guide Corsar.   Katar just acts as this ineffectual conscience that pipes up every second of the day.  He's like a tiny flickering Christmas light amidst a brilliant array of luminescence.  

Here's the kicker.  Katar is always wrong.  Give peace a chance? Daemonite Molt Party.  Don't listen to the Old Ones? Turns out there is Nth Metal in them Thanagar hills.  He's like the anti-Batman.

Corsar mines the Nth Metal at the expense of the land and the innocent miners.  No Quecreek Miracle here.  Katar of course cheeps protests.  From a practical standpoint, he's wrong again.  Oh, sure you can argue that ethically Katar's spot on, but the way this story is set up, pragmatism is what wins the day.  Ethics are for democrats.  Thanagar is the planet of neocon Republicans.

The Nth Metal is exactly what Corsar and the Old Ones think it is.  It's a means to give Thanagarians back their wings, well one Thanagarian.  So, there's the point.  Take away everybody's wings, just so Mr. Jiminy Cricket can get his back.  

Poulton and Liefield should have just retained everybody's wings.  There were other ways to make Katar a rebel, less annoying ones.  For example, just off the top of my head, what if Thanagar were conquerors, but Katar had the mind of a police man.  He believed in the law and justice and that's what caused the rift between he and the other Thanagarians.  That's a starting point.  Wiping out the wings of an entire race while preaching xenophobia, environment wrecking and war being the answer to everything except an unexpected Dune worm, just to get Hawkman aloft? That's just utter bollocks.

Hawkman's former and future Justice League colleagues fare better this week.  Superman is surprisingly good.  I know.  It's a change for me as well.  The origin of Superman in the beginning was related in a few scant pages, with only mention of his parents.  Mainly writers referred to the doomed planet Krypton.  Over the years that changed.

In the Golden Age, talent based Jor-El and Lara squarely on the pulps.  They looked they might have come off the covers of Astounding Science Fiction.  Jor-El of course was brilliant.  Lara was originally just his helpmate until the sixties when one of the Silver Agers gave Lara an astronaut background.  

The Donner plan for Jor-El and Lara was much the same, albeit with more crystals and white clothing to reflect the New Age movement of the seventies.  This design would later inform Smallville.

John Byrne was the first to radically reconfigure Krypton.  He introduced clones, a savage history and emotional repression for the present day Kryptonians.  

Byrne's Jor-El was a rebel in more ways than one.  He admits his love to Lara as the planet dies.  The love they freely express isn't merely isolated to each other.  Like every incarnation before them, both parents loved their son Kal-El.  They loved him so much that they were willing to send him away, let others raise him, just so he might live.

For the zero issue, Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort relate a story about the new 52 couple Jor-El and Lara.  Nothing has really changed, except the levels of sophistication.  

It's not enough for Lara to be merely a futuristic housewife.  Oh, and please, no angry e-mails about my implying that housewifery is somehow beneath women.  Whatever floats your boat.  It's wrong for a housewife to be a housewife is she's not happy.  It's wrong for housewife to be a housewife if she was forced into the role by her husband.  That's what I meant.  All right?  Can we go on? Fine.  

In terms of story, Lobdell finds a much better use for Lara.  Turns out, she's ex-military, and that leads to some humorous as well as some exciting situations that Rocafort is only too happy to render.  

Rocafort's style looks like it came from Europe via science fiction great Vincent DiFate.  The artist's unique design scheme echoes to the pulps yet still possesses the illustrative acumen of modern art.  Drink in the attractive group of antagonists.  Their appearance reflects their advancement.  These aren't mere thugs.  This cadre is a group of sophisticated scientifically knowledgable terrorists with a rationale. They worship entropy.  They turn a scientific fact into faith, and that's why they're so dangerous.  

Of course, the point is academic.  Krypton will die, or will it? Sharp eyes will note a theme in the zero issues of the Superman Family titles.

Writer Geoff Johns lets the lush artwork of Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Rod Reis do most of the talking in Aquaman.  One of the many cool things about this zero issue is how Reis integrates the previous flashbacks into his visual narrative.  We see Dr. Shin trying to apologize to Aquaman as Arthur escapes paparazzi, but in the background rather than the fore.  

Johns also deserves credit for seamlessly knitting the history of Aquaman hinted in the series with this unknown tale.  So, we watch Aquaman at his father's bedside but we also hear what Arthur learns from his father and learn why Arthur ran.  It wasn't pressure from the media, nor did he merely feel terrible about the death of his father.

As well as the integration, this issue of Aquaman stands on its own by detailing Aquaman's search for his mother and intertwining his search with other discoveries.  On the hunt, in a thrilling moment of wonder, Aquaman learns that he possesses the power to command the creatures of the sea.

Johns mingles these elements with an explanation on why Aquaman opted to be a hero to all people--sea dwelling and land lovers in the first place.  Previously Arthur had no real motivation.  This rationale however gives a core strength to Aquaman, making the character even less disposable.

Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato generate more excitement than I thought possible in the recounting of the Flash's origin.  I've seen the Flash's birth by lightning hundreds of times, including the most impressive recreation, on television with John Wesley Shipp.  

For the new 52, Manapul and Bucellato add some practicalities to the accident that granted Barry his powers.  Buccellato and Manapul wrap Barry in bandages and place him in a coma.  The writers give Barry a police family that visits his bedside, and they also create an intriguing mystery involving the Flash's mother and father.  

Did Barry's father kill his mother?  We can tell he had a kind of motive, involving a possible divorce.  In the past he begged Barry to believe in his innocence.  In the immediate future he'll ask Barry to accept his guilt.  Did he do it? It's an answer I suspect we'll be saving for future issues.

In addition to the deeper history and Manapul's and Buccellato's spectacular neo nouveau art, the creative team chronicle the Flash's uniformed evolution.  A past encounter with a friend explains why Barry chose to wear a costume.  Manapul's choice of words, his command of dialogue resonates behind the rationale.  The boost of humor in Barry's deeds as the Flash, makes the Speedster's defeat of ordinary gunmen just as fun as handing a super powered rogue his comeuppance.

More of DC's past continuity falls by the wayside in Teen Titans zero.  Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth pare A Lonely Place For Dying the miniseries that introduced Tim Drake to the Batman mythos.  In that series, Drake observed that Batman experienced a trauma, the death of Robin Jason Todd.  Dick and Alfred help convince him that he should take on Tim as a partner.  

Of course, this is insane.  The concept of the kid sidekick, having a mature adult enable a son, daughter or surrogate to risk his life the way he or she risks his life amounts to child endangerment.  It's one of those conceits that you just have to shrug your shoulders over and accept as a comic book convention that won't be going away...ever.  It doesn't make sense unless you agree that all you're doing is reading a story, and the kid is just another character.

Lobdell keeps the idea of Batman's hurting over losing his partner, but the theme is all he keeps.  Originally, Tim's parents were well to do.  Tim's father was in Bruce Wayne's stratosphere if not exosphere.  A crazy voodoo dude murders Tim's mother and paralyzes his father.  I think they kill him later, since conflicting father figures really do not work well with the concept of kid sidekicks.  

Originally, Tim was smart, but he's not brilliant.  The status of Tim being a wunderkind was worked in way, way after Chuck Dixon's and Tom Grummett's Robin ongoing.  Lobdell reintroduces Tim Drake as gifted in both body and mind.  Tim was never a gymnast like Dick.  In Teen Titans he's a budding Olympic star of blue collar parents, but he's obsessed with only one thing, Batman.  He knows Batman isn't himself.  So, he sets out to find the Dark Knight and confront him.  Batman hopes to deter Tim Drake with a clever ruse that's also a beautifully constructed Frank Lloyd Wright inspired headquarters.  In addition, Lobdell factors in modern technological wonders.  Tim and Batman stay in contact through Twitter.  It's a bizarre but realistic twist.

Soon after his meeting with Batman, Drake attracts trouble thereby endangering his parents and cleverly taking them out of the picture.  They don't die.  Rather, Lobdell uses a real world organization to remove them.  The excision simultaneously forces Batman to adopt Tim Drake as his Red Robin.  Tim never actually becomes Robin.  

James Tynion Jr. and Scott Snyder follow up Snyder's Night of the Owls with sequel series Talon.  Calvin Rose had a poor childhood until he met an escape artist from Haley's Circus.  Well, nowadays in DC, if you say Haley's Circus, you know the Owls cannot be far behind.  They look upon the neophyte escapist as their latest Talon, assassin of the Court.

Everything goes swimmingly until Calvin feels regret over the Talon that he murders in the Owls' maze beneath the streets of Gotham City.  Haunted by the Talon's face, he continues working for the Owls but in a mostly non-lethal capacity.  

Calvin is more than a Talon.  Because of his skills, he's a ghost.  He can defeat any security and enter any edifice without a trace.  Most importantly, he can find a way out.

When the Owls give Calvin an assignment to end the bloodline of one of their investors' enemies, Calvin finds he cannot comply with the Owls' orders to slay an innocent woman and her two-year old daughter.  So, begins Calvin's escape from the Owls and what looks to be an awesome series.

The zero issue of Talon likely starts one year before The Night of the Owls.  The Court sends a Talon to retrieve Calvin Rose, now working as a civil technician on a bridge.  The Court wants him back, and we know why.  They have bats on their radar, and they need their best man, the one that got away to kill the Batman Family.  It's a great twist integrated with the DCU and fused to the old Fugitive premise.  

Talon is a real boon for Guillem March.  Heretofore only known as a babe artist, and responsible for a controversial Catwoman cover, that honestly wasn't as horrible as some people think, just a proportionately flawed tight draft, March shows that he is fully capable of not just illustrating knockouts and sexualized narratives.  He accentuates the drama, he draws emotion despite complete concealment.

In addition March demonstrates that he can render what he sees as well as what he imagines.  His illustration of ordinary objects, drapery, the way he drafts the design of a bridge, the way he constructs a car exhibit consummate skill.  Some may be surprised to see Kubert influences in his art.  Talon should settle any dispute over the limits of March's talent.

So ends another issue of the POBB.  Hope you've enjoyed the perusal.  Until next week.