POBB February 3, 2016

Pick of Brown Bag

February 3, 2016

by

Ray Tate

The Pick of the Brown Bag drops in on A-Force, Angel and Faith, Barbwire, Batgirl, Captain Marvel and Rocket Raccoon and Groot.  If you miss the POBB, but need some quick comic book advice, I also tweet the reviews under: #PickoftheBrownBag.

Whereas in most fiction, magic is a force of nature, the magic of Magic Town is sentient.  As a result, several foreshadowed factors come into play for this issue of Angel and Faith.  

The Big Bad Archaeus attempted to persuade the magic to side with him.  So, the monster gave the magic a gift that all sentients require.

However, the way writer Victor Gischler characterizes the magic suggests that the gift isn’t quite the end all to be alls.  The magic mostly acts benign.  People don’t quite understand its actions.  That’s part of Archaeus’ plan.  Archaeus’ gift is the whisper in the magic’s figurative ear.  That the magic will never be accepted and it should become part of the Archaeus Family.  It’s the typical why serve in heaven when you can rule with me in hell trick.

Gischler doesn’t treat the magic as a threat.  Instead, he looks at the entity’s point of view and Nadira’s influence.  As we learned in previous issues, Nadira is a Slayer, but her instincts slant toward finding a peaceful/harmonious solution to all problems.  The magic as we learned likes to solve problems and be part of the solution.

The plot twist thus serves four purposes.  To redefine the magic of Magic Town.  Grant an extra level of cunning to Archaeus, while at the same time demonstrating the shallowness in his character and strengthen Nadira’s already inspiring resolve.  As to four…That would be telling.

In the action portion of the series, Angel confronts crooked cop Brandt.

I like how Gischler takes a Whedon cut-to-the-chase approach in this act.  Angel knows that Brandt knows.  Brandt knows that Angel knows.  Somebody needs to hurt.  Unfortunately for Angel, Brandt is a cop.  So, he’s never alone.

Angelus wasn’t a loner.  Angelus was in a league of vampires controlled by the Master.  Angel became a loner because he thought that was the only means to fight Angelus.  It would take years, but Angel became part of a family, and when he left that family, he built up another.  He would never be a loner again.  A trusted ally from the series became his partner in the comic book.  Faith.

Gischler uses the conflict that’s tied to the overall storyarc, to actually serve as an excellent introduction to how Angel’s and Faith’s friendship works.  

Angel and Faith are good together because of the humor, the pragmatism from both characters and the history of corruption from which both stars emerged.  Largely due to each other’s influence.

Angel and Faith is so well written that if doesn’t feel written at all.  Gischler seems to reconstitute the television series into the comic book as easily as Will Conrad and Michelle Madsen mimic the actors’ personages.

A midnight picnic and the growing romance between Batgirl and Batwing segues to fighting the larceny of hard-light hologram harnessing hoodlums.

The encounter’s totally familiar to Batwing but not to Babs.  Her eidetic memory once again fails, and this is the issue of Batgirl where writers Cameron Stewart and Brendon Fletcher resolve the gaps once and for all.

Though the story begins with a Batwing/Batgirl team-up, the lion’s share of the book belongs to the partnership on the cover.

Batgirl teams up with Black Canary to fight the enemy responsible for Babs' memory loss.

The superb story functions with a strong visual narrative courtesy of regular artist Babs Tarr.   The tale acts as a fair play mystery where suspects and clues introduced in past issues and this one bear scrutiny from the reader and the detectives.

Black Canary’s return to the cast adds much needed toughness and encouragement to a situation that’s turned Babs vulnerable and given her friend Frankie too many worries.  Dinah on the other hand comes onto the scene fresh and direct.

Canary picks up the slack.  She’s confident that Babs isn’t losing anything.  Rather somebody or some thing must be taking.  She’s out to protect her friend in the most violent way possible.  She’s in short a female character after my own heart.

The story flows to an action-packed conclusion that will more than sate the thirst of thrill-seekers missing the Dinah/Babs dynamic.

Barb Wire revisits Avram Roman, and discovers he's not the man she remembered.

Unbeknownst to Barb, she led the Feds straight to him, but in a juicy twist.  That was Avram's plan all along.

Avram intends to make a Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid stand against government forces, but Barb's conscience gets the better of her.

Barb's participation turns what could have been tragedy or massacre, into a smart-ass comeuppance that even Avram couldn’t have predicted.  That’s entertainment.

Captain Marvel leads Alpha Flight on an exploration of an unknown spaceship, and the craft proves to be full of surprises.

This issue of Captain Marvel doesn't break any new ground when it comes to science fiction, but it uses the traditions well.  The starship backdrop serves to flesh out the cast and examine their shared history.

Aurora as first imagined by Chris Claremont and John Byrne suffered from multiple personality syndrome.  She seems a lot better now, and apparently turned her flirtation with Sasquatch into a full blown romance at one time.  That's over now, but Sasquatch apparently still harbors feelings for the mutant hero.

The relationship between Sasquatch and Aurora is a kind of anchor in an otherwise brand new group, less Puck and our title hero.  The new characters deserve some examination.  Wendy Kawasaki for example is vivacious and curious.

The heroes by the way do not stay in the dark throughout the story.  Instead, artists Kris Anka and Matthew Wilson step up their game with striking visuals that will be familiar to anybody who to their sorrow watched Prometheus.

I’m not suggesting a direct correlation.  Rather, in general, Captain Marvel takes and admits the Alien franchise as its inspiration.  At least early on, with the red lights and organic ship, it’s a favorable comparison.  When the lights come on though, Prometheus gets a good kick in the shins.

The last issue of A-Force was instantaneously better than the first volume since writers Kelly Thompson and G. Willow Wilson focused on actual Marvel heroines, rather than confusing, ersatz doppelgängers.  This issue of A-Force is better through the virtue of being damn enjoyable to read and bearing the stunning art of Jorge Molina and colorist Laura Martin.

A cosmic blue being appeared in the Marvelverse.  She's a refugee from the previous volume of A-Force dubbed Singularity.

She was friends with versions of Marvel's female champions.  Singularity's first instinct was to seek out her allies, but something else noticed her.  Christened Antimatter, the being wants to kill Singularity because she causes him pain.

Though not friends with Medusa, She-Hulk or Captain Marvel, Singularity quickly becomes at least liked by the heroes, who defend her out of principle.  Well, almost.

Of course, Medusa quickly sobers up and remembers she was one of the Fantastic Four.

This is just one of Medusa's impressive moments.  Indeed, the creators of A-Force build up all the team.

At a certain point, Singularity, She-Hulk and Medusa seek out Nico, of the Runaways.  Nico and Singularity were in fact the best of friends in the prior universe, but strangers here.

I'm not overly familiar with Nico or her powers, but Wilson and Thompson quickly inform through and during the comedy of a wedding gone awry.  

I know enough now to say that I like Nico and appreciate the limits of her abilities.  I’m a tough sell for any magic-basis.  Giving the sorcery boundaries that affect the character and make a sort of sense is a big incentive.

Thompson and Wilson demonstrate that each of the heroes is capable of combatting Antimatter but not getting rid of him permanently.  This at once does justice to each character and explains why they must band together with Dazzler...

...to once and for all eliminate the threat to Singularity and the earth if not the universe.

Rocket Raccoon and Groot is losing me fast.  Under the conceit of a campfire story, writer Young hacks out a story that lacks the charm, warmth and humor of the solo Groot miniseries.  Essentially this tale posits that Groot lost Rocket Raccoon during Battle World or Secret Wars and has been looking for him ever since.

Two questions.  Why do the Guardians of the Galaxy believe Groot and Rocket to be dead, as seen last issue, when the heroes of earth could have just informed the Guardians that Groot, at least, is alive?  Why does everybody all of a sudden understand Groot?  Nobody understands Groot’s language except Rocket.  Former Groot writer Jeff Loveness spent a whole Brian Kesinger lovely issue of Groot explaining just how Rocket picked up Groot’s tongue.

Anyway, Groot believes he found Rocket in the raccoon tyrant.

Maybe, but who wants to read about an amnesiac raccoon torturing his friend?  I'd rather retread scenes from Groot such as this:

From Groot

And this.

From Groot

And this.

Best Silver Surfer Ever in Groot

Groot, just Groot, is superior to Rocket Raccoon and Groot by parsecs.  Young isn't giving me anything entertaining.  So, no, Marvel I don't "want to know what happens next.”

Groot is now available in a sweet twenty-four-ninety-five cents hardback.  ISBN # 978-0-7851-9552-8.  By not buying Rocket Raccoon and Groot thus far, you can invest eight dollars into buying that hardback.

Yup.  This scene is in Groot as well.

POBB: December 3, 2014

Pick of the Brown Bag

December 3, 2014

by

Ray Tate

This week the comic books come in droves.  Action Comics, Army of Darkness, Angel and Faith, Baltimore: the Wolf and the Apostle, Bionic Woman, Detective Comics, Hellboy and the BPRD 1952, Justice League Dark, Justice Inc., Shaft, Swamp Thing and Vampirella.

Lots of inhumanity and injustice in the news.  So, sometimes all you want to do is brew a cup of tea, lay back and read your comic books to get away from all the stress of an unfair reality.

Son-of-a—

J.M. DeMatteis forgot to take his anti-depressants again, and he decided to share his dismal mood with unsuspecting readers.  Congratulations.  This is my last issue of Justice League Dark.  

I don't care if Frankenstein and Black Orchid are on the roster.  I don’t read comic books to feel bad.  I read them to feel good.  I’m looking for moments such as this.

Not this.

DeMatteis’ story is like two episodes of Doctor Who that cross over and expel all the charm and optimism.  Specifically, the story combines Christopher Eccleston’s “End of the World” with David Tennant’s “Lazarus Experiment.”

You see, somehow, in an over-priced annual, the team got stranded in the upper regions of the future, and they ended up on the remains of the earth.  Coincidentally they happen to be on the piece of rock occupied by what's left of Felix Faust.

In Doctor Who, the Doctor takes Rose to a space station to witness the natural death of the earth.  They instead get caught up in unraveling a plot to kill the other guests in attendance.  The earth dies, essentially in the background.  Don’t worry.  Nobody’s on it.  None however witness this proud planet's demise.  The underlying point is that the guests were too busy trying to live rather than experience a philosophical point.   Realizing that this was a dark, affecting day for Rose, the Doctor freshens the air.  He takes Rose back to modern day earth, brimming with life and chips.  The earth, vibrant and magnificent, is still there.

In Justice League Dark we get the abyss.

Don’t worry.  DC hasn’t cancelled Swamp Thing.  In fact though the focus of Swamp Thing shifts to the birth of a new avatar from the villainous Lady Weeds and includes a gratuitous Constantine cameo like he has a television show or something, it was still damn good and far more entertaining than Justice League Downer.  

Come to think of it.  The transformation of Lady Weeds resembles the metamorphosis of Miss Hartigan in Doctor Who's "The Next Doctor."  It nevertheless feels different.

The distinction lies in the characterization.  Lady Weeds deserved the fate Capucine meted out.  Miss Hartigan, a Victorian, was partially a victim of mankind's arrogance.  Emphasis on the man part.

Anyway back to Justice League Dark, it turns out that  Faust who now looks like Mr. Lazarus from “The Lazarus Experiment”....

...managed to preserve a single rose, and like Superman in The Dark Knight Returns, Swampy restores himself with the green locked inside.  The difference rests in the execution.  Frank Miller's scene exhibits remarkable poetry and originality.  

It doesn't matter if such an action is scientifically dodgy.   It instead offers evidence for the truth behind the work.  If The Dark Knight Returns was as cynical as some believed it to be, Superman would have died from the nuclear blast to emphasize a theme of fallen gods.  Instead, Miller resuscitates the Man of Steel through science-laced fantasy.   The Dark Knight Returns is uniformly positive toward the super-hero concept.  The narrative voice is always on the side of those with capes and cowls.

DeMatteis on the other hand tries to perform the same feat and fails miserably.  First, DeMatteis' scene is unoriginal.  Second, we knew Swamp Thing's survival was certain.  No reason to care.  Third, the rose demonstrates neither cleverness or poetry.  It merely serves as a plot device.  In addition, Faust could have used his magic to preserve an oasis rather than squander his occult ken on turning himself into a worm blob or a bug swarm.

Cry Me a River

What the rose in Justice League Dark ends up being is a nugget of artifice, a piece of deus ex machina in a morass of dank angst.

Throughout the book you see the team suffering from lack of oxygen, warm atmosphere, digestion by a subpar Lovecraft homage and succumbing to various moments of entropy.  Not once do you actually believe any of the team will be killed.   You just wonder how they'll dread next.  So Justice League Dark ends up being a terrible experience.  There’s no hope here, no humor, no real feeling or conviction either.

Yay! It’s the Mad Hatter! We haven’t seen the Mad Hatter since.  Geez.  Has it been that long?  The Mad Hatter appeared in waning issues of Nightwing before he became Grayson...

...Gail Simone’s last issue of Batgirl and 2011’s Batman: Dark Knight in which the maniac murders Silver St. Cloud also-ran Natalya Trusevich, but hey, if you’re like me, you never tire of seeing this one-note lunatic over and over again.  Does anybody actually do anything at Arkham Asylum?  Guard prisoners?  Treat the insane?

So besides the old hat, Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul reintroduce Anarky and exacerbate the rivalry between Batman and Harvey Bullock.  

I can't blame Batman for falling asleep.

This is dull stuff indeed that exhibits a choppy narrative flow by dotting all over the place with barely connected set-pieces and belaboring dialogue that makes for stilted characters.  

Do we actually need to know the murder rate in Gotham?  Do we honestly require a recap of events in one clunk of exposition?  Must we experience the non-rapport between Bullock and Detective Yip?

Also in the déjà vu category, we have Action Comics.  Remember the creepy Superman Animated Series episode Unity, which introduced a big mind-controlling tentacled horror to the hapless residents of Smallville?  

Well here's the story again only twice as long and without the pyrotechnics of heat vision from the Kryptonian cousins scoring victory against the alien parasite.

Our stalwart DC heroes didn't fare well at all this week.  Their literary predecessors however were outstanding.

The maestro behind the cacophony of attacks on The Shadow, Doc Savage and newly minted pulp hero the Avenger reveals himself amidst a bold assault orchestrated by The Voodoo Master.

I would wear the hell out of a tee-shirt depicting this amazing scene illustrated 

by Giovanni Timpano and colorist Marco Lesko.

Meanwhile, Richard Henry Benson plies his new trade with rubber bullets and a throwing knife.  These weapons he will name Mike and Ike.

Michael Uslan's Justice Inc. mimics the breakneck pace of a really good cliffhanger serial and makes excellent use of Doc, the Shadow, The Avenger and their foes.

The characterization of our very different heroes rings true as does their interaction which provides oodles of enjoyment.  In addition the dialogue between Doc and his arch-enemy generates a lot more friction and depth than the average hero-villain conflict.

Dynamite also wins the week with the dead serious reintroduction of John Shaft.  Real people do not have origin stories.  However they have turning points and histories, and that's what writer David F. Walker details in the premiere issue.  He looks at the events that helped to forge "the black private dick."

Those looking for the "sex machine with all the chicks," will need to look elsewhere.  Instead, Walker relates a tale from Shaft's 1968 youth without the kitsch that often plagues such period tales.  Walker's vignette posits Shaft taking up the gentle art of boxing and finding corruption from rich whites and blacks alike but honor among his peers.

Shaft is a literate take on the character created by Ernest Tidyman and illustrated with dignity and realism by Doc Savage artist Bilquis Evely.  

Shaft is not a spoof like Black Dynamite.  Instead, it's a legitimate self-contained short crime story that demonstrates a believable sense of justice and pride amidst a rotten system begging to be overturned.  There's a sense of degree and restraint within the characterization that lends authenticity to the plotting and sincere first person narration.  Recommended for everybody.

Seventies icon Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman, attempts to escape General Morales' weird vision of the future.  She finds that she's not the only prisoner unhappy with the suburban facade of a de facto Village.  The inmates however have a secret.  

The A.I. are genuinely self aware, and despite their being crafted whole cloth you feel more for the victims of General Morales' vicious lesson than the fate of Swamp Thing in Justice League Dark.  

On the OSI's end, Oscar Goldman calls in some extraordinary help to find Jaime, and writer Brandon Jerwa has a surprise in store for readers as to exactly where that location may be.

Bionic Woman continues to be a draw for its mimicry of Lindsay Wagner's performance, a cracking story and terrific artwork by David Cabrera that delivers the goods.

Aaaaaaaaassssh in spaaaaaaaaace!  A necromancer takes The Necronomicon into space and unleashes Deadite havoc courtesy of possessed astronauts.  Fortunately, in a hilarious tribute to Z-Grade movies of old, Ash Williams stows away on the shuttle. 

Despite an absence of gravity, he's ready to dismember with his trusty chainsaw and "boomstick."

Cullen Bunn demonstrates the comic chops and sense of crowd pleasing awesomeness that became his signature in such comics as Fear Itself: The Deep and Fearless Defenders.  His characterization of Ash brilliantly imitates Bruce Campbell's signature role, and his plotting and imagination lives up to the potential of the concept. 

Ash unleashes a torrent of violence and a staccato of wise-cracks.  Hilariously, the Deadites refer to him as "The Chosen One" which would indicate a wickedly humorous Supreme Being in the Sam Raimi Evil Dead films.  Ash is even less likely a natural pick of a Chosen One than a certain blonde valley girl of geek acquaintance.

One of the prime reasons I'm not reading Buffy the Vampire Slayer is due to its lack of focus on the television cast.   The clutch of new characters who I couldn't care less about became the stars.  The success of Buffy's continuity lies in the shared knowledge of its viewers.  We for example know who Warren is because we watched his intro and his curtain call.

Angel and Faith is a different sort of animal.  While the title introduces new characters, their interactions instead of overwhelming the narrative, serve to enhance it.  Angel's detective contact Brandt for example isn't instrumental when Angel confronts Amy Madison a television series irregular.  He's outside for backup.

Ultimately Angel alone battles the arch-witch to keep Warren dead.  Angel's bag of tricks amusingly mirror the tactics a Big Bad might use.  While his explanation is perfectly innocuous and sensible in context, the reader might remember that Angel was once Angelus one of the worst vampires on the planet.

Writer Victor Gischler simply keeps the spotlight on stars of television series, and it's as if he's producing a new show starring Angel and Faith, however, in comic book form.  It seems simple doesn't it?  It's complex.  The easy thing to do, the lazy thing to do would be to fall back on your own characters using the ones readers want to see as support staff.  Gischler gives fans what they want.  He mimics the delivery of the actors in the dialogue while Will Conrad completes the illusion with remarkable likenesses, and both combine their talents seamlessly to present something readable, something nostalgic yet something new.

Angel's erstwhile partner Faith and Samantha Finn, also introduced on the television series, stage a classic rescue of Riley against a population of vampirized natives.  Ostensibly, Faith and the former Slayers that make up the private security firm Deepscan, infiltrated the jungle to save a client's father, but the truth is who gives a damn about some fourth tier character's dad?  The draw for the reader is Riley finally meeting Faith in her actual flesh and the reunion of husband and wife.

The monster of the week is a back drop.

Angel wasn't the first good vampire, and technically he's not.  He's a human soul forced to constantly battle a demon inside a vampire husk.  Angel currently pilots the vampire body.  So he's a good vampire.

The first vampire to defend humanity for purely altruistic reasons from the creatures of the night was Vampirella.

While adults always read comic books, the powers that be generally ensured the fare was "safe" enough for kids.  Created by Forrest J. Ackerman, Vampirella arose as a comic book for adults.  It dealt with horrific situations and supernatural creatures.  It's hero was an alien vampire who wasn't abashed to show a little skin.  Incidentally, the fact that Vampirella was a valorous blood-sucker would have caused massive seizures in those enforcing the infamous comics code authority.  Even villainous monsters were a no-no.

Over the years, as Vampirella became a comic book instead of a comic book magazine, the writers and artists made the tales a little tamer, more PG-13 than solid R.  One of the things that Nancy Collins did when she took over the title was return Vampirella to the top shelf of the rack.  Vampirella became sensual not just revealing.  She drank human blood, something we rarely saw her do in the subsequent comic books.  She furthermore literally fed on her monstrous ilk.

The increase in sexual content is obvious.  The current story pits Vampirella against Dr. Faust--yes, that one--and Collins makes this figure from literature even more repellent by amending his fable with acts of rape against legendary queens and demigods.  One such crime artist Patrick Berkenkotter depicts in flashback, and this era of Vampirella indeed shows more flesh than the previous periods.  

A little show of tits and asses never harmed anybody.  Nudity and sex aren't the only thing that returned Vampirella to its roots.  I'm an atheist.  So perhaps I'm biased in my assessment of the Church.  As it stands, the Church is a model of male chauvinism, and it has been the traditional home of child molesters.  Maybe the new Pope changed things a smidgeon, but I don't see much in evidence.  Rather people believe that things have changed.  The idea of the Vatican actually fighting evil, really, doing anything, always rubbed me the wrong way.  I mean, yes, Vampirella is a fairy story, but in reality, the Church at its best is an indolent parasite.  

Collins severed Vampirella's curious ties with the Vatican. She didn't expunge Vampirella's history, but she completed the corruption of the organization.  Collins portrayed the Church as hypocritical, quite willing to turn on Vampirella an unswerving agent of good that served their cause faithfully.  Rather than help Vampirella when cursed by Ethan Shroud to be possessed by Umbra, the Church decides the most efficient way to stop the apocalypse is to destroy Vampirella.  Collins imagines a new group.

Collins' plans are more textured.  The Kabal are a clutch of monsters that have decided to live in a society by rule of law.  Not necessarily human law but law nonetheless.  They police they're own ranks, and those that break their code are dealt with sometimes leniently, other times harshly.  Vampirella fits right in with this group, and their current problem is Dr. Faust.

Faustus' plan to appease his demonic masters would terrify children, especially those about to visit their primary care physicians, and it as well represents an almost gleeful return to mature themes.  Collins exploits the common fear of needles, the anti-vaccination movement to demonstrate a diabolical plan by Faust.  I look forward to the next issue.

Mike Mignola returns to Hellboy in 1952 to relate Hellboy's first mission for the BPRD.  The story is mostly a quiet reflection in Hellboy's point of view.  

Co-writer John Arcudi probably dealt with the cacophony of accompanying agents.  I assume this because loud is Arcudi's forte.  It's a good start to a new Hellboy adventure.

With Christopher Golden and artists Ben Stenbeck, Mignola concludes his Baltimore novella The Wolf and the Apostle.  There's not much more here than a superbly gory werewolf story, but Baltimore has some lovely pithy thought on humanity.

For Baltimore, monsters would be just beasts if not for the taint of humanity that allows them to be cruel.  Nice.  I never really thought of that twist before.