POBB: November 5, 2014

Pick of the Brown Bag

November 5, 2014

by

Ray Tate

This week I review Angel and Faith, The Death-Defying Dr. Mirage, Detective Comics, Earth 2, John Carter Warlord of Mars, Scooby-Doo Team-Up, Swamp Thing and Vampirella.

I once described a writer’s premise as being the equivalent of getting down on one’s knees and serving a Big Stupid Event.  Previously I had expressed a lack of appreciation for another writer masturbating over Airwave as a Big Bad moved the moon, which also happened to be, at the time, the home of Justice League headquarters.  “Oh, thank god.  Airwave is here!”  No.  When somebody moves the moon, you want Superman, not a dude that can merge with radio waves.

Well, my friends, what we have from Earth 2 isn’t quite so monumentally bad.  Oh, don’t misread.  It’s bad all right, but it’s more like the timid hand-job from a neophyte hooker/masseuse.  A shy little brush from a shaking finger tip, and the inexperienced worker satisfied her job is done.  What’s genuinely surprising is that it takes eight prostitutes to instill the feeling.  The colors also aren’t up to snuff, but I’m giving Pete Pantazis a pass because he probably threw up a little in his mouth when he saw the mess he had been asked to finish.

It’s difficult to support a title named Earth 2 when in fact the story occurs on four different planets: Czarnia, Warworld, Apokolips and Mars.  Yes, I know technically this is really the Earth 2 universe, but up until now all the action astonishingly enough took place on earth-two.  The threats were directed at earth-two, and the characters all arose from earth-two.  Even earth-one visitor Mr. Terrific was quickly waylaid by Terry Sloan, n’er-do-well of earth-two.

So the book opens on Czarnia where only Lobo has a name.  To be fair, perhaps the female protagonist's real name is in fact Girl, and in the native tongue, Girl translates to “I Spit on Your Czarnian Grave.”  

I don’t actually believe that the lack of naming Girl is a sign of sexism.  Rather, it’s a symbol of overall writer and editorial torpor.  They didn’t name name names.  I will.  Tom Taylor.  Marguerite Bennett.  Rickey Purdin.  Eddie Berganza.

So, there’s a pox spreading through the lower castes on Czarnia, and Girl happens to be part of that caste.  Lobo of course is the Main Man and he can’t be anything but above the caste he nevertheless consorts with.  The Girl, not even the Main Girl, on the other hand gets busted when trying to steal medicine for her dying parents.  This places her in the hands of…

No-Name Bitch.  We must credit the artist for this memorable bit of body language.  Even though No-Name Bitch doesn’t have a name, you can tell that she is in fact a No-Name Bitch by the way in which she comports herself.  The rest of Alison Borges’ work is illustrated from unconvincing angles and apparently designed to hide detail as well as the speed she found herself forced to attain.  All this for a mishmash of inexcusable expository excrement.  Not even for the benefit of the regular superhero cast—who do do not appear—but for ciphers we care nothing about and emanate lethargy.

No-Name Bitch convinces Girl to carry the plague to Apokolips.  What puzzles me is why they would even think that the plague would affect the New Gods, emphasis on Gods.  Even if you thought them only to be long lived aliens, the long living should have clued you into the fact that these aliens are tough, and it’s going to take a little more than Girl with a case of the sniffles to stop them.  She doesn’t, and Apokolips suggests a more beneficial proposal.

For everybody that pined for Warworld.  Here it is.  Suddenly, you realize that this piece-o-shit story is really an anthology of anus.  The second short takes place on Warworld, which is at least drawn with some enthusiasm by Trevor Scott.  It’s not written an iota better, but at least it’s prettier.  Mongul hosts Steppenwolf at the games where a Big Yellow Female Muppet Thing kills and eats her victims.  

Once again, we’re not given a name.  Events transpire badly for Mongul, but is that really surprising?

The tedium continues with a trip to Apokolips and Big Barda, who has yet to fall in love with Scott Free.  She therefore has the substance of a stale wedge of sponge cake.  You could easily replace her with Girl in fact.

In a twist that’s so ingenious it may make you yawn, a child rockets to Apokolips and kills a slew of Parademons.  Rather than murder the tyke, Barda inducts the child into the ranks of Granny Goodness’ Furies.  Finally, we get some names.  Not that it matters.  Ohhhh, I get it.  The writers are agreeing with their audience that the names of these characters do not matter since they only serve as one-dimensional functions.  They add to the emptiness of the book.  Earth-2 is actually jejune French existentialism.   Screw you.

The story continues to shlep forward where Betta, the Orange Little Bastard, murders somebody in every other panel.  No, this is not as exciting as it sounds because first, you have no reason to root for Orange Little Bastard because even though he has a name, he may as well not.  Second, this is not the well-focused choreographed mayhem of a Liam Neeson or Jason Statham film.  Rather it’s a perfunctory measure to lamely disguise the Trojan Horse artifice that’s engineered to suck up three dollars from each pull list.  

In the final story, Darkseid gets it on with a nameless Martian woman.  Do not buy this even if it drops to a quarter.  The eighth of a stroke wasn’t worth a dime.  You end up instead frustrated and cheated. 

Scooby-Doo Team-Up on the other hand is the perfect meeting between Scooby and the Gang and the Flintstones.  Sholly Fisch doesn't miss a beat and proves himself a student of Flintstones continuity.  Using a prehistoric time machine, Professor Einstone--a stone-aged pun right up there with Ann-Margrock--transports Daphne, Fred, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby to Bedrock.  Einstone knows Fred Flintstone and asks for him to look after the kids.  Fred is only too happy to be host.  

Scooby-Doo exists in the real world.  That is despite Scooby learning how to speak human, the Gang live in a world that mirrors our own; which is why their detective stories work.  Science trumps all, and magic doesn't exist.  That said.  The Flintstones live in a topsy-turvy world where mammals and dinosaurs live together in relative harmony.  A blatant fallacy.  

The Flintstones and creationism have been linked before, but it's important to remember a few items.  The Flintstones existed as a concept before creationism which occurred in modern form no earlier than the seventies.  The creators of the Flintstones only had one goal, make you laugh.  So lighten up.  Enough.  Let's not talk about the supposed implications.  Let's talk about the plot.  It's a classic.

This is when Fisch really shines.  He uses the underlying theme of gender battles in The Flintstones--high-minded albeit prehistorically nuanced motifs versus low-art past times namely bowling--to set up a brilliant mystery that blatantly sets Fred up as the most likely suspect.  Fred in fact saves the day with his particular skill set.

Fred's twinkle-toes moves put the capper on perfect, on-model art by Scott Jeralds

Before we get to the main gist of the plot, the creators lavish a number of culture clash jokes on the audience.  They  furthermore relish a barrage of more characteristic humor from the cast, and the way back home, which alludes to the continuity of the team-up title itself, calls up a brilliant cameo appearance.  If you have fond memories of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and The Flintstones, you need this book.

Unfortunately, the serious-minded Detective Comics is an annoyance.   Batman, succumbing to a genetically engineered virus, drifts through Gotham International Airport in an attempt to find a cure and the culprit behind the infection.

To do this though, he needs to call Grayson, a gratuitous cameo if I ever saw one.  Worse, writer Benjamin Percy portrays Grayson as a James Bond type who seduces in order to get the information.  Frankly, if Dick Grayson were real, I don’t think he could seduce a mannequin let alone a breathing woman.  I've never understood the need to make Dick Grayson a lothario, and the new 52 gave us puzzled readers one of the greatest gifts of all.  A sander for Grayson's bed post.

In any case, The World’s Greatest Detective shouldn’t have needed help figuring out that the virus maker was in the airport.  That’s not really a spoiler.  “Terminal” isn’t a true detective story.  It’s more of an idea under development that just got the green light because DC needed some filler.

The best part of Percy’s tale occurs when Batman does something nice for Gotham International Airport’s Chief of Police, a fellow virus victim and simpatico cop.  Paul Leon’s dark artwork suits Batman to a tee, but you can do much better than this, especially when presented with a four dollar price tag.

Angel and Faith on the other hand is good, solid entertainment from Victor Gischler and Will Conrad.  Our heroes are still worlds apart.  Angel plies his trade in the magically infused London.  The story opens with his being beset by murderous dreams.

I have a suspicion of what’s happening, but I’ll keep mum about this.  Fortunately there’s much more going on to talk about.  Amy Madison came to Angel to help her dead boyfriend Warren out of a jam jar.  I went there, and I'm proud of it.

Angel’s answer is really wonderful to read.  I can just imagine David Boreanaz reading these lines and performing in the way Conrad imagines him.

While Angel battles Amy in London, Faith supports Sam, Riley’s wife, in the jungles.  Now a jungle trek can be boring, but Gischler uses the opportunity to craft some really rich dialogue for Faith’s attempts to atone for past transgressions against Riley.  Mind you, boinking him while inhabiting Buffy’s body is probably the nicest bad thing she could have done.  I do understand how she feels, that she used him, and I like the interaction between she and Sam.  It feels honest.

Nancy Collins concludes the Umbra saga in Vampirella.  The Cult of Chaos chose Ella, how Vee refers to herself, to host the evil goddess Umbra.  She had no say in the matter and has been killing vampires under the direction of her half-brother Drago to gain the strength to fight the curse…or so she thought.  Slight spoiler ahead.  If you’d like to be surprised and take my word for it that this issue of Vampirella is worth adding to your collection.  You may cease reading….now.

So the battle begins, and it’s a good one, imagined well by artist Patrick Berkenkotter.  I like furthermore that it’s not a drawn out affair.  The duel is quick and to the point.  

The climax isn’t the outcome of the fight.  Ella still has much to do.  In order for the ritual to be complete, Ethan Shroud must exploit the body of a father to sacrifice his daughter.  This is what started the whole ball rolling in the first place, and trust me when I say that Vampirella’s journey isn’t an easy one.

Collins reminds readers that Vampirella made enemies out of the people she once served, and that her series is an advent to a new direction in the mythos without shrugging what went before.  Instead, Collins uses Vampirella to expose the hypocrisy of the Church, and in my opinion, she gives Ella a moment, again perfected by Berkenkotter, that’s much more powerful than her nevertheless impressive battle against Drago.  I knew Collins on Vampirella would be an ideal match, and I haven’t yet been disappointed.

Likewise for The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage.  I’ve enjoyed Jen Van Meter’s Cinnamon reinvention, but I’ve often had little interest for the Valiant characters.  I was never a fan of Doctor Mirage, but Van Meter reintroduced the character as a female occult investigator with true psychic gifts that tapped a seventies vibe similar to that of Dr. Michael Rhodes from Second Sight.  The artwork by Roberto De La Torre looked like an amazing homage to the style of Jim Holdaway from Modesty Blaise.  All of these factors made me interested in Doctor Mirage.  Reading the book just raised that intrigue to the power of ten.

Van Meter sets up Shan Fong as a forlorn widow taking up the mantle of Doctor Mirage to search for her husband Li Hwen.  In the process she gains fame as a demonologist, who doesn’t behave like a superhero and instead resembles an adventurer from a really good comic strip.  This story finds Shan under the employ of a millionaire who wants to be rid of his connection to a bound demon.  The trouble is that he’s part of a tontine, and the other members of the brotherhood don’t want him out.  Doctor Mirage travels the spirit ways to find a means to break the spell.

The story opens with Shan’s relating a tale from the past to ghost children who accept the fable as payment for their guidance.  There’s a lot of interesting tit-bits like that in Doctor Mirage. The idea that you can pay spirits or ghosts with objects of power or stories is a good one and sort of makes sense.  What good is money to the dead? Undead creatures that stalk the earth.  Sure, but the insubstantial hanger-ons are different matter.  The occultism of Van Meter’s worlds depends upon ancient rules that everybody abides by.  Through these devices Van Meter eschews the inherent omnipotence of hocus-pocus.  The gist of the tale relies heavily on these rules and demonstrates Doctor Mirage’s intelligence and adaptiveness.  It all leads to engrossing entertainment beautifully illustrated.

John Carter returns to comic books after a repellent debut some years back, but Ron Marz has got the stuff, and artist Abhishek Malsuni’s artwork graced by the gorgeous hues of Nanjan Jamberi is certainly apropos for the swashbuckling science fiction.  Mind you, Dejah Thoris is pretty damn bodacious.  

Whereas in the books, she’s portrayed as a petite woman due to the fact Red Martians reproduce by egg laying.  No joke.

Still, Malsuni’s sense of proportion is noticeable.  Maybe Dejah is a little larger than she should be, Maisuni balances out the breasts with strong depictions of sinew.  It’s probably wise of Marz to open the story with Dejah Thoris since she has actually been the star of Dynamite’s Edgar Rice Burrough’s Mars line and more familiar to faithful readers.

Marz’s story is full of pure pulp bravado, and distinctly flavored with John Carter’s prototype science fiction.  Marz details Carter’s abilities first through the words of his wife who a mystery villain targets with mind-worms that force her to tell the truth.  In a beautiful allusion to the sort of spice Burroughs imbued his Princess of Mars, she uses the assault to her advantage.

When the story shifts to John Carter’s adventures far in the deserts of Mars, the quality doesn’t.  There’s exciting swordplay, examples of Carter’s friendship with giant, four armed Green Man Tars Tarkas and his superhuman abilities that result from being exposed to a different set of environmental attributes on Mars, such as lower gravity.  Recommended.

Because it’s Swamp Thing, you really should just expect it’s going to be good.  The cover doesn’t do a bit of Charles Soule’s story justice.  

First of all, you immediately understand the importance of the Swamp Thing Annual in terms of continuity.  Readers who passed on that are going to find themselves slightly confused at the depiction of a transformed Capucine, and unlike the passive Parliament of Trees that Holland forced into dormancy, the feisty duelist continues to parlay with blades rather than speech.

These scenes are all due to the surge of a new Kingdom.  The Kingdom of Machines.  At first they seemed to want to strike a deal with Swamp Thing, but that turned out to be a con game.  So Alec has an offer for them.

Yeah! Swampy doesn’t for a moment believe that the Machines will honor any agreement so he prepares another contingency by meeting the Avatar of another Kingdom, The Rot.  This avatar happens to be his former lover Abigail Arcane.  The Machines’ fascinating attempts to harvest an avatar for themselves displays primo geek thinking.  Each candidate, a DC stalwart, is logically discarded.  

Swamp Thing is just a joy.  It’s everything that comic book readers want.  A strong hero.  A formidable supporting cast.  Monsters fights.  Unique science fiction ideas that masquerade as horror, and it’s all lovingly illustrated by Jesus Saiz.

POBB: October 29, 2014

The Pick of the Brown Bag

October 29, 2014

by

Ray Tate

The Pick of the Brown Bag hits the Internet with new reviews of Baltimore: The Wolf and the Apostle, Justice League United Annual, Swamp Thing, Wonder Woman and the newest Phantom comic book series from Hermes Press.  

Annuals? Do we need them?  Perhaps a better question would be.  Are they relevant?  Comic book annuals tend to fester a bad reputation.  

They're frequently over-priced anthologies, tangentially associated with the main series, illustrated and written by whomever's in the room.  Worse, the books sometimes sport work by fan favorite artists and writers that should have known better.

While this might be a good time for the newcomer to breach the castle, it's usually a pretty lousy experience for readers.  The two annuals under scrutiny this week are actually worth it.

Swamp Thing decides the fate of Capucine.  She is one of the oldest cast members in the Charles Soule run of the series.  Capucine was the nigh immortal who asked Swamp Thing for sanctuary.  She became his ally, confidant and friend.  Ancient monks sealed a deal with a demon to grant Capucine a thousand years more of life.  The demon gets her body when her time's up.  

Already the book is relevant to Swamp Thing proper.  It's written by current Swamp Thing scribe Charles Soule and the majority of the annual is illustrated by regular artist Javier Piña.  The story pertains to a second tier cast member of Swamp Thing.  The way Soule extricates Capucine from her predicament is at once fair-play and dependent on the events that unfolded in recent issues of Swamp Thing. 

Ah, but there's the catch.  Did you see it? "...the majority illustrated by regular artist Javier Piña."  So the rest of it looks terrible, doesn't it? Not really.  Artist Ryan Browne puts together a very funny two page Swamp Thing fable, that fits snugly within the main tale.  Carmen Carnero's art merges nicely with Piña's illustration, and Yanick Paquette contributes a happy coda that works as a pin-up and fitting send-off for Capucine.  Dave Bullock is also on hand for a particular origin story, and the subject of this origin figures in as a draw for those not reading Swamp Thing.  It's actually pretty funny that the Powers That Be secreted him away from the cover.

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Gone! Gone! O' Form of Man.  Arise the Demon Etrigan.

That's right the Demon is Etrigan.  The degree of a comic book's significance is proportional to the Jack Kirby content.  It doesn't matter whether or not you're a Jack Kirby fan.  He was an architect for both Marvel and DC comics.  

Soule balances the various characterizations of the Demon.  For Kirby, the Demon was the bona fide good guy.  Most writers sweep the original intent under the rug.   Soule for the most part concurs with the majority.  Etrigan is bad news.  He does however differ on the details.  For example, Etrigan became a rhymer.  Soule identifies rhyming as a rank.  The Demon has no compulsion to rhyme.  He just chooses to do so.  The whole basis of the story appears to be the Demon's libido, introduced in Demon Knights.  Just why the hell does Etrigan want the body of Capucine?  Soule implies something perverted but leaves it to the reader's own filthy imagination. Being an atheist, I only think of pure thoughts.  So I imagine the Demon's going to invite fluffy bunnies to share tea with he and Capucine.  Yes, that's what I think.

Justice League United Annual is a necessary purchase for Legion of Super-Heroes fans.  Mon-El starts the ball rolling by attacking Justice League United.  The reason? Ultra, the alien composite, actually an old Silver Age character given a new lease of new 52 life, bears the same genetic code of Infinitus, a monstrous being that devours planets.  Shades of Galactus!  Ultra will become Infinitus.  

Mon-El intends to initiate the Grandfather Paradox, to save the galaxies and perhaps more importantly Shadow-Lass, who will fall victim to the monster.  Standing in his way, the Martian Manhunter, guardian of Ultra and his comrades from Justice League United.

United split forces last issue, one group stayed on earth.  The away team went into space to investigate the theft of Hawkman’s body.  This led to Supergirl, Green Arrow, Animal Man and the Star-Spangled Kid investigating a bar filled with bounty hunters.  The hunters find themselves on the other end of the spectrum.  

Lots of people might pass this issue up because of the heavy Legion involvement, but writer Jeff Lemire also gives his new character who we mistakingly referred to as Keewahtin the name Equinox.  He also brings the Martian Manhunter and Supergirl back into the limelight.  Martian Manhunter used to be Mr. Justice League, but the new 52 severed his connection with the teams and kept him largely under cover.  This was a valid decision.  The Manhunter’s disengagement facilitated the new 52’s growth as a unique continuity.  Supergirl debuted with a bang, but some idiot decided to turn her into an orange Lantern.  Now, we get a relatable kickass Kara who won’t take guff from anybody.

Complimenting this renewal, Lemire imbues the fantastic sense of humor that first attracted many fans to Justice League United to the annual.  Animal Man unwittingly relates a terrific joke, and Lemire gets that Animal Man is supposed to be a normal man with a normal wife and family.  This allows for some added comedy.  In the final scenes, Lemire tackles Byth’s part in the whole scheme, and he sicks a familiar foe against Justice League United.  Fortunately, the team is packed with power.  Finally, eventhough though Mike McKone is taking some time off, DC lined up a primo eye candy choreographer Neil Edwards to visually narrate this excellent story.

Brian Azzarello's impressive run on Wonder Woman ends.   While the actual final battle between Wonder Woman and the First Born is kind of a let down, there's still a lot to recommend.  The art of Cliff Chiang being the most obvious.

In terms of plotting, Azzarello pulls a clever twist that's based on the least noticeable issue of Wonder Woman.  The twist relies on Wonder Woman's sense of mercy, and that aspect alludes to the roots of William Moulton Marston's intent regarding the Amazon.  Whatever your opinions on Wonder Woman's creator and his lifestyle, Marston's means cannot be questioned.  He intended Wonder Woman to be the antithesis of violent machismo.

Azzarello's final solution to who will rule Olympus is at once fair and weird.  You could have easily deduced the secrets of the gods had you been paying attention, but there's still a strange development regarding one of the cast members nearly impossible to foresee.  For one thing, the evolution depends on the lackadaisical social mores of the Greek gods, and it takes an almost new mind-set to grasp the concepts being offered.

On the whole I can recommend Azzarello's and Chiang's Wonder Woman.  Though Chiang wasn't present for the entirety, admirable substitute artists kept up the visual quality of the series.  The story was an unusual adventure that pit Wonder Woman against foes that deserved her and presented a challenge.  It redefined Diana's origins and addressed the Greek Myths with a unique perspective.  In terms of continuity, Azzarello made connections between Wonder Woman and the New Gods and restored their luster through a more palatable and savvy Orion.  Wonder Woman began as Azzarello promised.  It was horrific.  It turned into a dark comedy of magical realism and finally ended within dark fantasy.  Check out the trades if you didn't follow the monthly chapters.

The Ghost Who Walks Returns to comics courtesy of Peter David, optical anatomist Sal Velluto and Hermes Press.  This is the eternal Phantom from the comic strips.  He is married to Diana Palmer who works for the United Nations and the  father of twins Heloise and Kip.  There's nothing broken in The Phantom, and writer David doesn't fix anything.  David however imagines a different temperament for the Phantom and Diana.

I don't think I've ever seen the Phantom so amorous before, but it's consistent with the conceit by creator Lee Falk.  The Phantom is the original legacy hero.  He even predates the Green Hornet's relation with the Lone Ranger.  In truth this is the same Phantom and Diana that graced the newsprint in World War II.  If the current writers of the comic strip ever described that Phantom, he would be a different man who married a different woman.  Wisely the comic strip tends to gloss over that era.  Although other Phantoms have been before mentioned.  The Sixteenth Century Phantom for example married Jean Lafitte's sister.

David's story resurrects the The Singh Brotherhood who invade Ophir and seek the whereabouts of a different legendary figure from the jungle.  The Phantom and Diana intervene.  Here, David also distinguishes his Phantom.  Generally speaking the Phantom is a solo act with his horse Hero and wolf Devil. 

Diana regains some of the pluck she lost since World War II.  David's wise ass, pistol-packing Diana is absolutely valid.

Last but not least Baltimore takes a holiday from his own book.  The obsessed monter-huting Lord merely serves as listener in a stand-alone horror story that only bears the trappings of the Baltimore environs.   Fortunately, this deliciously timed tale by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden and Ben Stenbeck is a juicy macabre with colors by Dave Stewart that echo the impact of the occasional splashes of red that might be seen in a few crossover era black and whites.

A group of knights that for the sake of Baltimore's alternate earth arise from the ranks of the same inquisitors as his nemesis from previous issues.  They kit themselves up and go a hunting for a horror in the castle only to die one by one.  A near perfect fright that doesn't actually need a second issue to do the job.  

POBB: July 2, 2014

Pick of the Brown Bag

June 2, 2014

by

Ray Tate

This week the Pick of the Brown Bag looks at Angel and Faith, Batman and Superman, Earth 2, Moon Knight, Scooby-Doo Team-Up, Swamp Thing and Vampirella.

Scooby-Doo Team-Up is a clever lark in which Scooby and the gang meet Wonder Woman.  How did this happen? Continuity.

Wonder Woman's, Scoob's, Velma's and Daphne's namecheck of Batman refers back to the first issue of this mostly enjoyable Scooby-Doo spin-off.  It establishes that this is another shared world where some of the super-heroes know each other.  The scene furthermore demonstrates characterization that's independent of the plot.  Daphne, Velma and Scooby express just the right amount of awe in realizing that Batman respects their skills in mystery solving.

If the loss of Amazon power should a man set foot on Paradise Island throws you, it's a classic, though not part of the original mythology.  Wonder Woman's creator William Moulton Marston indicated the promise to Aphrodite consisted of Amazons not being "beguiled" again by men.  The idea of male presence causing Amazonian weakness was introduced much later by Marston's successors.  Of course you could also rationalize the discrepancy by suggesting the vow over time became a corrupted legend.  The Amazons after all are eternal and likely to forget a few things per century.  In any case,  Sholly Fisch brings back the pop culture Aphrodite's Law.  The rule elegantly explains everything.  It provides the impetus for the story and allows for some entertaining jokes.

The Amazons never let go of the idea that men are the inferior gender.  Wonder Woman is a more equal rights kind of gal, which suits her characterization and subtly evinces why Diana was chosen so long ago as Paradise Island's envoy to man's world.

These story attributes serve as the backbone of Fisch's fairplay mystery in which mythological characters appear and disappear seemingly at will and leave the Amazons perplexed.  In the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, they've done the preliminary elimination of the impossible.

Artist Dario Brizuela while introducing an on-model Scooby-Doo cast produces a warm, inviting Amazon population that's simultaneously strong and sturdy.  For Wonder Woman, Brizuela combines the best of both worlds.  She's part Super-Friends and part Justice League.  Perfect.

Batman and Superman acts in four ways.  First, writer Greg Pak unfolds a good story with a beginning, middle and end.  Second, he adds an epilogue to the plotting from the previous World's Finest crossover.  Third, he brings a layer of entanglement to the continuity of the new 52 and fourth he sets up the next stoyarc in which Batman and Superman lose their memories and trade partners: namely Lois Lane and Catwoman.

The story begins with Superman and Batman mulling over their fragmented memories that stirred after meeting their Earth-Two counterparts' legacies.  

The demon in question appears and gives the two heroes a rare opportunity.  She will transport them both to the past of Earth-Two and grant each a chance to affect the timeline.  Batman of course does not trust the demon, but that doesn't stop him from taking advantage of the situation.

In JLA/Avengers Batman warns the team not to interfere with Marvel's earth, but he ends up decisively swooping down from hiding to beat the crap out of the Punisher. Batman like his ratiocinator predecessors is not a slave to logic.  He more often than not follows where his intellect leads him.  However, particularly stressful situations such as Lex Luthor momentarily killing Dick Grayson rips through his brain like nobody's business.  Pak plausibly sets up such a moment and Batman admits that he squandered his chance to rewrite Earth-Two history.

Superman's contribution rather than creating a temporal paradox, preserves the history of both earths and exemplifies the friendship he fosters with Batman.

In the end, the duo disappoint the chaos demon, and her rage precipitates their next fate.  

Earth 2 is just filled with spectacular moments.  Above, Alan Scott tows a crapload of Parademons while the Apokoliptan New God Beguiler vexes his efforts.

The threat leads to a spotlight for Hawkgirl where Kendra unsheathes her steel.  

Marella, the Queen of Atlantis, returns at an opportune moment.  That snapshot doesn't begin to describe the epic scope of what occurs.

The Flash steps up to perform an amazing speed stunt that leaves everybody speechless.  

In addition to these wonders in both art and writing, the new Superman reveals his connection to the House of El and takes an epiphany trip courtesy of Dr. Fate's helmet, which generates comedy from Jimmy Olsen.  A superior issue in every respect, even if not highlighting the earth-two Batman.

Swamp Thing opens his latest by threatening to kill Lady Weeds.  The Wolf persuades Swamp Thing to abandon his murderous intent, but not out of altruism.  

The entire book is an entertaining weaselly narrative juxtaposed with Jesus Saiz's gorgeous montages depicting Alec's fight against monsters in the Wolf's employ.

In the end, writer Charles Soule introduces a unique twist in the bartering for demonic assistance, and this seals the fate of the Wolf, who foreshadows his own destruction.  Quick and effective, Swamp Thing's only subplot focuses on the relationship between the immortal Capucine and her Avatar Joshua, which dovetails to a dramatic cliffhanger promising a riveting next issue.

Writer Nancy Collins upends Vampirella's world.  Corrupted by the Seal of Chaos, Vampirella serves as the host of Umbra.  Though the evil goddess has yet to surface, the alien vampire from Drakulon now succumbs to the bane of other vampires and faces allies turned enemies.

The idea of the Catholic Church turning against Vampirella isn't anything new, but Collins' skill as an author allows for a more naturally written betrayal.  I'm not a fan of any religion, and Catholicism is a particularly narrow-minded philosophy.  Traditionally however, the Church was portrayed as much of a demon-fighting symbol of goodness in Vampirella as it was in early Hammer films.  Vampirella writers glossed over the Church's overall hypocrisy; its facilitation if not outright support of child molestation; its historical hatred of science and of course its abhorrence of women as anything but an evil necessity for baby-making.  With the introduction of God's Hammer, Collins subtly touches upon the Church's unsavory history.

Vampirella's former supporter asks Nicodemus the leader of God's Hammer to make her death quick, in honor of her past service.  The priests lie to Vampirella in order to better position her for an ambush.  Vampirella's ally from the other side emphasizes the sect's pleasure when it comes to torturing women.  To be sure, Collins doesn't dwell on these unsavory attributes of the Church.  She's relating an supernatural action-story after all, but she paints the Church in darker shades that previous writers.  When Vampirella shakes off Umbra's influence, it's doubtful she'll return as the Church's agent.

Vampirella's advocate comes from the night.  This as well as has been done before, but again, Collins' skill to nuance depth into an adventure makes for a more a satisfying evolution.  The monsters are more rational.  They see Vampirella as the only force powerful enough to preclude the apocalypse.  They still see her as a threat.  They know that she will kill them once freed from the corruption of the seal, yet she's their best best bet.  They aid her out of self-interest as well as surprising poetry.  Whereas Collins' vampires are predators mirroring the worst of humanity, she characterizes the vampires in Vampirella more diversely.  By no means are these creatures the Byronesque hearthrobs popularized by Anne Rice or Stephanie Meyer, but neither are they the monstrous rapists or exploiters Sonja Blue destroys in Collins' books.

Drago is a refined, almost old school vampire.  He's still dangerous.  A monster, but he expresses more than an a mere want to rescue the "Happy Meals with legs," that Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer wished to preserve.  Collins no doubt saw this episode and realized she would need to distinguish her work from the better known Whedon opus. 

There's a measured realism inherent in Collins' novels that she transfers to Vampirella, and artist Patrick Berkenkotter makes for a good partner to translate the authenticity. Berkenkotter bases Drago's appearance on Count Orlak.  Thus Vampirella's designation of his being Nostferatu is accurate. This type of vampire resurfacing contrasts the pretty seducers of borderline romance novels, and fits with Collins' themes of dropping the pretense.  Vampirella's beauty has always been starkly different from the traditional vampire woman.  She is alien and immortal.  It's not a mask conserved by an evil curse to better lure her victims to expose their necks.  Vampirella is not the undead, and Berkenkotter of course keeps her fit and fluid throughout the terrific follow-up to the premiere.

Victor Gischler's Angel and Faith is so strong that I don't really need to know the particulars of what's going on.

I have absolutely no idea who this woman is beyond her name.  I haven't a clue who this Nash fellow is that she mentions in her dialogue.  Gischler keeps it simple.  From the dialogue and her actions, I can tell she's harbors a grudge against Angel and Faith.  Judging by her ears, she may be an elf or something.  The green glow tells me she's definitely got some magical mojo going for her.

With Will Conrad's action-saturated artwork as his storytelling medium, Gischler accents Angel's unstoppability.  Angel can be killed.  It's just hard to do.  He does feel pain, but it doesn't slow him down.  Because he has a soul, he doesn't let the innocent suffer.  So we see Angel battling some really powerful foe, getting back up again after being knocked over several times and saving lives.  Really, that's all I need for a decent issue of Angel and Faith. 

Gischler ups the ante by informing me about Magic Town, without making the exposition feel like an info dump.  Magic Town is London, after Whistler, who mentored Angel on the television series, unhatched something beyond his control. 

Gischler cinches the surroundings to a clever plot.  So, it's not just a personal magical duel between Pearl and Angel.  The stakes are higher than mere revenge.  The properties of those stakes depend on the nature of Magic Town, and they also explain why Pixies are so vital to an old Big Bad's plan.  

Conrad makes all of this easy to take in.  He orchestrates clear, concise fight choreography.  His dead on likeness with Angel and Faith combined with his photorealistic characters new to Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer unify comic book and television series.   Furthermore, his depiction of the Big Bad at the proper cliffhanger bestows greater impact to the reveal.

Faith's story runs adjacent to Angel's tale, but never do they intersect.  After attacking Deepscan's client, Faith realizes that she doesn't belong in Kennedy's private security firm.  She prefers Slayer weapons to guns.  She dislikes working for monsters she would rather kill, but Kennedy still believes Faith can be good for Deepscan.  So, she entices her to stay with a case she cannot abandon.  The catalyst for this mission goes all the way back to Faith's redemption on the television series.  

It's the creative team's adherence to the core myths that make Angel and Faith such an engrossing read.  I felt lost when trying to comprehend the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book, but here I feel right at home.

Don't kidnap night travelers when you're in the vicinity of Moon Knight.  He is the avatar of Khonshu, and he protects night travelers.  In order to secure his charge, Moon Knight will need to traverse five floors of pug-ugly thugs inhabiting the tenement.  Rather than fear the possibilities, Moon Knight's looking forward to the ordeal.

Essentially Judge Dredd with Moon Knight in place of Dredd, the story works because of DeClan Shalvey's extraordinary martial arts illustration and Warren Ellis' mean, pithy dialogue.  Moon Knight will take you five minutes to breeze through, but you'll be rewarded in those five minutes.

Have you ever wondered if there is or will be a comic book as bad as Manos: The Hands of Fate?

It's a fair argument to say that you shouldn't review something that you haven't or won't read.  I've made it a point to only review what I have read.  However, I'm going to make a prediction.  This prediction is based upon the preview and the ad copy.  Here is the comic book answer to Manos: The Hands of Fate.

I considered picking apart the image and the phraseology, but really, doesn't the image just say it all? It's like a massive train wreck of mediocrity and desperation.