Pick of the Brown Bag

February 20, 2013

by 

Ray Tate

This week The Pick of the Brown Bag looks at Sword and Sorcery with Amethyst, Batman Beyond, Bionic Woman, Birds of Prey, Catwoman, Justice League, Justice League of America, Nightwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws and Supergirl.

I neglected to comment on DC's ongoing feature Channel 52, which debuted a couple of weeks ago.

This hilarious yet informative one-stop summary of events in the new 52 recasts DC personalities as newscasters.   Anchorwoman Bethany Snow is the only character that actually has newscasting experience.  Mind you, she turned out to be part of Brother Blood's cult in the pre-Crisis New Teen Titans.

Ambush Bug, who needs no explanation, tackles fringe topics.  The inspired choice of the Calendar Man re-emerges as a nattily dressed lifestyles reporter.  Still, nuts though, just in a different kind of way.

My favorite choice for reporter though is Vartox.  The preservation of Sean Connery in Zardoz recently reappeared in the first-rate Power Girl from Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Amanda Conner.  His forte? Sports and Space.  

Jock and Geek all in one, but there's a bit of insight here.  In the DC universe, observing items outside our little planet is a given.  DC must have a daily science section in their news broadcasts and newspapers, which would be wonderful in reality.  

The conclusion to "The Throne of Atlantis" in Justice League rocks.  It's a massive team-up with an almost Shakespearean level of drama deftly illustrated by Ivan Reis and Paul Pelletier.

If a year ago you were to tell me that Geoff Johns was capable of writing such a rich, yet relatively brief chapterplay, I would have taken you to a bridge I was going to sell to you,  rethought my strategy and thrown you off it.  

Last issue, Johns revealed the identity of the Big Bad, and this came as a supreme shock. Vulko's reasoning for his Machiavellian schemes pays off in terrific scenes.  Vulko's plots in fact are so horrific that we bear a kind of sympathy for the devil in Orm, the artist formerly known as Ocean Master, a label the media slaps onto him at the conclusion of the story.

Johns bestowed remarkable depth to Orm.  He's a complex figure.  A warrior to his people that lacks any love for the surface world, allowing him to unleash a torrent of terror.  While you cannot condone his methods, you can still understand where his rationale lies.

Atlantis was attacked.  Orm meant only to protect Atlantis.  That we cannot fault him for.  Though, he should have investigated before arriving to a knee jerk conclusion that the surface world was the culprit.  

Nothing ends tidily in this story save for the reunification of the Justice League, but even that group is affected by the battle between brothers catalyzed by the utterly insane Vulko.

Dr. Shin gets what he wished, and he's sorry for it.  Mera suffers a terrible blow, but the League just may have a place for her in its ranks.  Auxiliary Leaguers such as Firestorm and Vixen get a chance to strut their stuff, but in a way they never wanted.  Pity also the Atlantean guard and their losses to the Piranha Men of the Trench.

In addition to crafting a superbly orchestrated conclusion filled with multifaceted takes on the characters we know and love, Johns whets the appetite with previously unknown continuity and foreshadowing.  Orm refers to Mera as a convict.  She indicates that the Atlanteans did something terrible to her ancestors; a history only only vaguely hinted at in Aquaman.  Hawkman acts bloody nuts.  The new Atom makes her appearance, and Zatanna fights alongside the Leaguers, thus preparing her place, as seen in the premiere issue of Justice League Dark.  

The League also guest star in this week's Supergirl.  If you haven't been paying attention, an alleged Kryptonian arrived on earth.  He claimed that he was an explorer from Krypton and that he met Superman's parents Jor-El and Lara.  He was so touched by these two that he chose the name H'el to honor their House.  So far, so good.  Except, He'l is not what he seems and he's bent on resurrecting Krypton, whatever the cost.

Due to the strength of the new 52 universe, time travel is nigh impossible, and when it can occur, it's a one way trip demanding great sacrifice.  H'el intends to make a time machine by using the earth's sun for its fuel.  This will leave the earth frozen and lifeless. 

A lot of people are going to say that the draw to this issue of Supergirl is the fight.  There has always been a side bet to the who's faster Flash or Superman question.  Who is stronger? Supergirl or Wonder Woman?  The question's still not answered.  

Writers Mike Johnson answers who is the better warrior and that is hands down Wonder Woman.  The new 52 Supergirl though is definitely more powerful.  In other words, the fight's not a given victory.

In my opinion the duel's really not as important as Supergirl's horrified realization expressed so eloquently by artists Mahmud Asrar and colorist Dave McCaig.  These painful visions signify Kara's vulnerability, her loneliness and her guilt over being used to usher the earth's end.  

These feelings are compounded by the simple fact that Supergirl doesn't really like the earth or most of its backward people.  Whatever her opinions, she never wanted to kill the earth and being a catspaw in the maniac's madness hurts.  Thanks to Asrar and McCaig, it shows.

The premise to Justice League's sister book is rock solid.  The United Nations formed Justice League International ostensibly as a backup for the League, to be an earth-based group to complement the League if for example the team happens to be offworld.  The U.N. sponsorship was less about control and more about global security.

Justice League of America is a product of paranoia and the potential for the Justice League to undermine the United States government's pretense of efficacy.  The government's ultimate goal is to dismantle the League, consequences be damned.  Sound familiar?

Naturally, the government gets their yes-woman Amanda Waller to head the Justice League of America recruitment party.  She chooses heroes that she believes will counter the League's roster.  This of course is short-sighted, and the belief that all these crimefighters will obey without question is a clear flaw in the plan.  

Steve Trevor is the other fly in the ointment.  Waller attempts to exploit sore feelings between he and Wonder Woman, but this  proves futile.  Steve unconditionally loves Wonder Woman and wishes her happiness with whomever she chooses.  

The new 52 version of Steve is a winning interpretation free of the chauvinism from the Silver Age and the drippiness in other glimmers of Trevor.  Steve's in on this to turn the Justice League of America into a force for good, in spite of politics.  He also favors an ally with whom he shares a surprisingly long history, in this relatively new cosmos.

It's interesting that DC and in the fictional context, the government, tries to play up the budding romance of Superman and Wonder Woman as something big and threatening, when readership and the people think it's not.  A sort of Cupid's Benghazi.

The roster to the League of America is well known to anybody that's popped into a comic book shop just for a moment.  The changes to personality and purpose however may surprise.  Hawkman, in synch with his "Throne of Atlantis" cameos, for example appears to have gone mad.  

Vibe is still Vibe, but he gains extra powers.  Stargirl lives up to her name.  She's an idol to little girls, tweens and teens.  That's definitely what she should be, but her life isn't glamorous.  In fact, she appears to be stalked by a spirit with a familiar name.  I wish there were an emoticon for shoulder shrugging. 

This is not to say that any of these twists are bad.  It's way too early to determine such a thing.  Although, some of the rationales seem a little contrived, overtly planted just to give each member of the team a reason to join Waller's Expendables.  

Waller also pops in during a telephone conversation with Starling during a disaster of their own making in Birds of Prey.  Regular readers know that Starling turned out to be deep undercover in Penguin's nest when she met Black Canary and Batgirl.  She continues to spy on the Canary for Waller.  The reasons resonate all the way back to Dinah and Waller serving on Team 7, and Waller has for some reason bottled Larry Lance in a hidden lab somewhere.

The thoughts of Larry elevate Dinah's Canary Cry to devastating effect.  Writer Duane Swierczynski employs the catastrophe as focal point for numerous characterization-fueled plot points.  Batgirl immediately takes over the team.  Strix, the reforming Talon from the Court of Owls, sees the Canary as a threat and attacks.  Starling places herself more under Waller's oversight by having administration call-off a quickly dispatched Black Ops strike force designated to protect public utilities from terrorist attack.  New hero Condor proves to be a strong team player, and the evil Basilisk group launches a vicious Doctor Who styled attack on the team.  The frothy issue of action-and-intrigue packed drama is lovingly illustrated by Romano Molenaar, Vincente Cifuentes and Chris Sotomayor.

Ann Nocenti's Catwoman actually makes sense.  Finally we get a genuine heist unrelated to a crossover, and this issue seems more exemplary of the level where Catwoman will typically lie.  Not bad.

Nocenti strengthens the bond between Catwoman and her partner in crime Gwen. The narration gives readers an idea of what Catwoman's about.  The opening gambit in which Catwoman whips a group of drug dealers into submission exhibits her dicey morality.  The dialogue is much easier to understand and delivers a more appealing rhythm.  

While doing all this, Nocenti still maintains ties with the Batman titles.  Catwoman doesn't operate in a vacuum.  Nocenti discusses the new power player in the city Emperor Penguin, filling the void temporarily left by the Penguin.  She also mentions Batman's and Catwoman's on-again-off-again relationship.  Much improved.

Regular readers of the POBB will likely be surprised to see Red Hood and the Outlaws amidst the yield of comics books this week.  The inclusion can be simply explained.  The aftermath for "Death of the Family" is a well-written tragic study on Jason Todd and adds more timeline information for the new DC cosmology.

The new 52 gave all characters a new lease on life.  Freed from the decades drag of confusing, convoluted continuity and largely chaperoned by excellent writers, the lion's share of DC's champions benefitted.  Jason Todd was no exception.

Red Hood and the Outlaws received a lot of critical lambasting for Lobdell's portrayal of Starfire.  She apparently likes to sleep with both Jason and Roy Harper, but as I have stated previously.  Had Starfire been a man sleeping with two women, nobody would have batted an eye.  The question is do Roy and Jason deserve sex with Starfire.

Were you to ask me that question three years ago when the post-Crisis still reigned supreme, I would have said that Roy Harper deserved to be dragged through a field of cacti, then bathed in lemon juice.  Jason, well, he deserved to stay in his grave, but this is the new 52, and these characters lack responsibility for what their old incarnations may have done or represented.

Roy is now basically a juvenile slow-thinker.  Big improvement over junkie, and thank goodness he dumped his terrible 90s body armor.  He's back to his reliable Speedy look even if he calls himself something else, and he's a bowman, plain and simple.  The former sidekick to Green Arrow, who is therefore just a little younger than Batman.

Jason's sobriquet as the Red Hood is sheer idiocy, but it's due to a powerful meme associating him with the identity.  Most people think of him as the Red Hood from the post-Crisis.  That said, Jason is written vastly different from the Robin that everybody and his dog voted off the island.  

The Joker murdered his mother under the guise of an overdose and orchestrated his father's incarceration, where Mr. Todd died.  Batman took Jason in when Dick Grayson became Nightwing, and Dick chose that identity earlier than in previous universes.  

As this book establishes, Dick and Starfire were an item, when they were younger.  She and he founded the Teen Titans, presumably along with Roy.  Who the other Titans were remains a mystery since Aqualad, Kid Flash and thankfully Donna Troy no longer exist.  Beast Boy and Bumblebee are possibilities.

The end of Jason Todd was the same, death by crowbar wielded by the Joker.  The means were different.  While Jason was resurrected, Talia performed the feat via Lazarus Pit.  Superboy Prime did not punch time.  

Talia might have done this as a gift for her beloved Batman.  This issue demonstrates Batman still possesses deep feelings for Jason and guilt over perceiving to fail him as a mentor.  He    nevertheless exhibits a willingness to make amends.  The fact that Jason and his friends are welcome at Wayne Manor certainly speaks volumes.

The artwork conveys the emotions of these two men as they attempt to reconcile.  Batman, seen in the dark, unmasked appears very lonely.  Jason in turn exhibits a kind of reluctance to confront the issues, and Batman's acceptance of Jason conveys a growing bond between them.

The closest either will come to a reconciliation makes the Joker's revenge all that more painful.  The cover for once doesn't lie, and seeing Batman rush to Jason's aid displays just how much Jason means to him.  This inrush of emotion from Batman is completely new and stirring.  It grants the finale to the issue far grander potency, beyond what anybody thought Jason Todd was capable of triggering.  Batman from the previous universes never once expressed such love for what was basically a substitute Robin, until he died.  The new 52 presents a Batman that's kinder and more overtly caring about his family.

Nightwing was small potatoes compared to Red Hood and the Outlaws.  Dick Grayson goes all angsty for a night, but Damien Wayne quickly talks him down.  Writer Kyle Higgins does evolve a meaningful scene between Dick and Commissioner Gordon, indicating that the Commish is indeed aware of Nightwing's history as Robin, and he feels more than a little responsible for the lad.

An encounter with Barbara Gordon at the funeral for Raya, whom the Joker humiliated and murdered, doesn't really add anything apart from Batman Family cohesion.  Though, during the meeting Higgins crafts excellent characterization for the Dynamic Daredoll and reinforces the idea that Dick's and Babs' relationship is strictly platonic, unlike a surprisingly risqué Young Justice in which Babs and Dick share quality time in two different periods with increasing levels of torridness.  

According to Channel 52, Dick is heading for Chicago.  In this issue of Nightwing Kyle Higgins clears the way, wiping out most everything Dick tried to build.  I wonder if Higgins planned to move Dick to another city or simply saw the new start as more logical given the Joker's attacks.  It looked like Higgins really intended to keep Nightwing as a Gotham hero.  Higgins had Dick invest in a controversial love interest--Sonia Zucco--and put down roots.  Haley's Circus was to become a permanent fixture for Gotham.  Of course, Higgins could have intended to show how "the best laid schemes O' mice and men gang aft agley."

Dick Grayson guest stars in this week's Batman Beyond, but he can't alleviate the boredom.  The first story institutes the Batman of the future building a vault for criminal casualties, which is a crap idea, and debuts a gruesome new for for Justice League Unlimited.  The cartoony illustration often takes artistic license too far.

Norm Breyfogle's artwork is perfect as usual but this damn story involving the Jokerz King simply won't stop, and it should have done so three issues ago.  It's ennui appears to be also infecting the Superman tale, which positions Superman in another Christ like pose while various Jiminy Crickets pop in as hallucinations or memories.  Feh.

Family is at the center of a strong issue of Sword and Sorcery.  Amethyst returns from her excursion on earth to Gemworld.  Graciel, Amethyst's mother, reveals the final fate of her father and uncovers a betrayer in the House of Turquoise, to which Amethyst's father belonged.

Christy Marx continues to forge a world where different houses collude and undermine each other for mastery of all or simple survival.  The machinations of Mordiel, Graciel's sister, force Amethyst into action, and it's here that we see her true character as a peace-loving innocent forced to become a warrior, a designation that suits her.

I'll be very to see Sword and Sorcery go.  I'm a tough sell on fantasy, but Christy Marx and Aaron Lopresti charmed me with a strong female character draped in resplendent artwork. 

Last but not least, Paul Tobin's superb Bionic Woman functions on an ass-backwards narrative in which Jamie goes to Russia with Fembot Katy to rescue a previously undisclosed friend.  We don't know why Jamie's involved until the very end, and Tobin uses Jamie's memory loss due to her accident and rebirth as the Bionic Woman against her.  It's very likely the old Jamie would have perceived the deception, but the "new" Jamie can only observe and deduce the ties that bound.  

Jamie's new friend Katy is a hoot.  Tobin creates a plausible robotic personality without traveling down any obvious roots.  The clever repartee between Katy and Jamie eventually evolves Nora, Jamie's best friend, in a hilarious scene that works specifically because she's unseen.  

Nora's still laid up in a hospital back in the States, but that doesn't mean she can't embarrass Jamie by remote control.  The consequences of bringing in Nora derail the conversation into a frank discussion of sexual iconography and a laugh out loud funny moment where Katy at once disabuses a geek of his fantasies and re-instills them at the same time.  This of course separates a fembot from a manbot.

The entirety of the story benefits from an excellent visual narrative by artist Juan Antonio Ramirez who handles the action as well as the reactions and body language from the cast with equal care and strong execution.

Pick of the Brown Bag

January 23, 2013

by 

Ray Tate

It's another bonanza of reviews from the Pick of the Brown Bag.  This week we check out two new Dark Horse titles: The Answer and The Black Beetle.  We'll also be sussing out old favorites like Bionic Woman, Birds of Prey, Justice League, Nightwing, Prophecy, Supergirl, Sword and Sorcery with Amethyst, Wonder Woman and Young Justice.

In Justice League, Ocean Master's forces rise from the water in number and exemplify the difference in the new 52 status quo.  This kind of loyal army would have never been at the human Ocean Master's disposal.  At best, he could have mustered a gang of scuba diving mercenaries, but he usually attacked as a lone sea wolf.  In the new 52 however the Atlanteans find Aquaman lacking, specifically the human half.

The Atlanteans have a point.  Not about hybrid heroes, but regarding Aquaman's skills as a leader.  The surface world did not launch the missiles at Atlantis.  They did however come from the surface, and Ocean Master responds logically to what appears to be an unprovoked assault.  This is not a pre-emptive strike.  

Aquaman's belief that he can broker a peace is sadly misguided.  Ocean Master may listen to reason but only once captured.  By fighting against the League, Arthur splits the team and mitigates their ability to work together as a fighting unit.

Writer Geoff Johns gives each League member a chance to shine, and the art team of Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Rod Reis grant visual validity to all.  Batman instigates a classic, sneaky move.  Wonder Woman attacks hordes of Atlantean warriors, and Superman lives up to his name with a feat echoing one that impressed me on Smallville.  Even Cyborg gains a little bit more respect; although he still mainly functions as a Boom Tube escort.  Johns also cannot resist the urge to include a revamp.  With the cameo, he reverses another long-standing death of a female character.  Good for him.

Wonder Woman's team up with Orion continues to be an enjoyable experience.  The new 52 Orion is yet again a different animal than the post-Crisis and pre-Crisis version.  This Orion goes to earth in order to relax, not to brood.

Milan a god from an undisclosed pantheon that sees all calls the battle between Diana and Orion a draw.  Wonder Woman is only too happy to sheath her swords, which magically arise from her bracelets thanks to Hephaestus.

We discover the identity of Hermes' aide-de-baby snatch, but the mystery man in the arctic wastelands remains so even though bets are in favor of his being Heracles.

All of these goings-on in a meaty issue of Wonder Woman get grand treatment by Cliff Chiang and colorist Matthew Wilson.  The creative team furthermore inject a certain sprightliness to the reappearance of Hera's family tree.  In fact, the personae, the body language and the timing bring to mind Uncle Arthur's and Serena's welcome manifestations in Bewitched.

Nightwing and Supergirl I'm sorry to say are completely disposable.  Of the two books, only Nightwing advances the crossover story but not in an unexpected way.  Basically, the Joker just waylays Dick and ushers him to the Batman Family banquet in preparation for the next issue of Batman.  

It's clear from the dialogue that the Joker does not know Dick's secret identity.  He has only guessed that Nightwing was a former circus performer.  Given the vast number that have come and gone at Haley's, including by the way Boston Brand, there is no way he could have determined Nightwing is in fact Dick Grayson.  Plus, the Joker's nuts.  Rationality in his thoughts is fleeting on a bad day.  

Thanks to Eddy Barrows the issue of Nightwing is a gorgeous place holder.  Barrows seems naturally drawn to Dick's acrobatic routine.  Barrows'  sense of realism, enhanced by Eber Ferreira's tactile inking and Rod Reis' spectral shades, imbues an eerier quality to the nightmarish Joker scheme.

Supergirl on the other hand takes the plot to "H'el on Earth" nowhere.  The Flash breaches the Fortress and battles the Girl of Steel.  The narration is the only element of interest, besides of course Mahmud Asrar's splendid artwork.  

Supergirl is amazed at the Flash's speed and thinks he may be faster than Superman, thus adding to the much debated historical comic book conundrum.  In my opinion the Flash is the Fastest Man Alive.

The battle carries over to Superman's alien zoo, and that allows Asrar to create Wayne Barlow inspired creatures of all sorts.  We also meet an old friend before H'el shows up to vanquish the Flash and begin his plans for earth's annihilation and a misguided time travel mission.  Which is exactly where we started from.

Trained from childhood to follow the Court of Owls' lethal commands, The Talons are nigh unstoppable immortal assassins.  The Court sent a Talon to deal with each member of the Batman Family.  Gail Simone created the only sympathetic Talon amongst the psychotics.

Batgirl defeated the Talon sent to kill her.  That same Talon later saved her life, indicating an individualism that could not be extinguished by the Court's brainwashing techniques.  After these events, Batgirl's Talon became targeted for assassination.  

Though this Talon happens to be mute, the Court intended to silence her before she divulged their secrets to authorities.  Batgirl and Catwoman intervened.  Conflict arose in what to do with the Talon.  Catwoman refused to let her go back to jail.  Concerned over the Talon's safety, Batgirl agreed and decided to find a place for her in the Birds of Prey.

Writer Duane Swierzynski cleverly dubs the Talon Strix, which is the genus for owls.  Strix immediately acts as a contentious presence. 

Black Canary and Starling, who with Batgirl form the core of the team, seriously doubt Batgirl's sanity and jump to the conclusion that she might be mind-controlled.  This is an example of Swierzynski immersing himself in the lore of comic books.  Although the new 52 has featured thankfully little mind-control, it's a staple trope in comics, and a consideration for heroes when any one of them acts strangely.  Compare this to nobody figuring out that Spidey isn't in his right mind.

In terms of pure characterization, Black Canary exhibits a different concern.  In the post-Crisis, Barbara Gordon formed the Birds of Prey to be her legs.  In the new 52, the Black Canary established the team, in a bid to overthrow the Penguin and defeat Basilisk, a surreptitious arms dealer that's been skulking around this new universe throughout the Batman Family titles.  Black Canary reacts as a normal person might.  Flinching at the idea of Batgirl challenging her leadership.  That's an example of Swierzynski's pure characterization, free from the filter of comic books.  This kind of reaction could of occurred in any work.

Before anybody can act, Swierzynski throws a Condor in the works.  Now this is where Swierzynski exhibits a real understanding of each character.  Rather than immediately throw in with him and attack Strix.  Each character behaves according to her personality.  That generates immense fun and unexpected treats that allow artist Romano Molenaar to demonstrate his illustrative acrobatics, perfect sense of timing and deadpan delivery of comedy.  Later in the book, Molenaar will display an impressive rendering raw power to the panels.

Birds of Prey could have been just another change of the guard.  You know the type.  The roster adds and subtracts players, and there's some generic threat that lets them test their worth for the team.  Swierzysnki through evolves characteristic comedy through dialogue and excitement via personality clashes.  Molenaar, backed by Vincente Cifuentes' inking expertise and Chris Sotomayor's rich night colors turns the Birds of Prey into a vision of action-packed loveliness.

Batgirl fans definitely need to pick up Young Justice.  Trapped under Brainiac's force dome, Batgirl must face a Superboy bizarro clone, known as Match.

The Dynamic Daredoll smartly defeats her foe with tumbling, a plausible stock from her utility belt and sleight of cape.  It's an awesome Batgirl moment in an otherwise long, drawn out Brainiac story.

Reading Paul Tobin's Bionic Woman makes me hate Keith Champagne's Bionic Man vs. Bionic Woman even more.  Mr. Tobin gets everything right that Champagne got horribly, irrevocably wrong.

Jaime isn't disguised as a stripper.  In fact, she's not disguised at all.  In a smart suit, she visits her friend Nora, who was thrown off a roof in the penultimate chapter of the first recommended storyarc.  Both Nora and Jaime sparkle with personality, but Tobin clearly sets them up as opposites.  Whereas Nora is aggressive, impetuous and searching for a laugh, Jaime is restrained, rational and leaning toward dry wit.

Jaime meets Steve Austin, and Steve actually seems like a person rather than a block of wood.  Their non-date goes well, and the panels by Juan Antonio Ramirez neatly fold a span of time highlighted by a gamut of expression from both bionic humans. 

Tobin had already planted the seeds for the gist of his tale on the first page, but he does something beyond merely presenting this classic adversary of the Bionic Woman.  In addition to the surprises from Jaime's nemesis, Tobin ties-in a mercenary squad just aching to be on the receiving end of Jaime's power.  This lets Ramirez strut his bionic action chops, and he doesn't leave the reader wanting.

In Ron Marz's Prophecy Red Sonja deals with Dracula's kiss as Kulan Gath brings the world down to its figurative knees.  Not much to say about this book.

Yeah, that about sums it up.  The bizarre team-up of licensed properties hasn't disappointed from issue one on.  The conclusion to this book would have to seriously fizzle in order to leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I don't think that's going to happen.  Especially with this penultimate issue's awesome cliffhanger.

Christy Marx creates a remarkable stand-alone story in Sword and Sorcery.  When last we left Amethyst, she was fighting alongside of Justice League Dark.  This issue the defacto leader of the team John Constantine, uses the House of Mystery to transport Amethyst to Chicago.  The reason is delightfully normal, fitting a teenager of Amethyst's age.

Constantine by telling her the facts pulls off a smooth con that allows him to keep the gem that opens a portal to Nilla, Gemworld ala Themyscria, and puts her in his debt.  To be fair, Constantine acts much more like a hero these days.  He's a Leaguer for crying out loud.

While Amethyst indulges her earth favorite, a crazy Republican sorceress decides to snatch the princess in order to steal her power.  Oh, you may argue that the sorceress bears no party affiliation, but I beg to differer.  Rich layabout believes she's entitled to steal somebody's power and freedom while demonstrating poor research skills screams Republican to me.  

In any case, bitch witch gives subbing artist Travis Moore the opportunity to display a feel for the star, dynamism, supernatural tomfoolery and a little comedy on the way.

The Black Beetle is obviously derivative of the pulps.  Francesco Francavilla's champion is not as unique as the Shadow or the Spider, nor the Green Hornet.  The writer/artist basically checks off a list of pulp necessities for a hero to possess but doesn't do anything original with these traditions.  Of course, I'm not sure that Francavilla really wanted to do anything more than send a love letter to all of those mysterious, masked heroes of yore.

The Beetle is visually striking.  Francavilla's stunning illustration recalls such greats as Toth, Jordi Bernet and Kubert.  For once Francavilla's predilection toward oranges and reds works in his favor.  This all results in The Black Beetle being Francavilla's narrative sketchbook.  That's not a bad thing to add to your collection. 

Mike Norton's Answer reads more like a question.  How much love do Dennis Hopeless and Mike Norton have for Robocop?

The Answer uses a pump action shotgun to shoot a perp's ghoulies through the skirt of a hostage.  Just like Robocop.  Robocop however uses a futuristic gun with precision ammo and a tracking system that allows him to pinpoint the woman's flesh to hit the man behind her.  I'm pretty certain that even an expert marksman would have difficulty performing the same feat with ordinary ammo and no tracking system.

The Answer karate chops one of the hoods.  His dropped lighter sets the gas station/convenience store on fire, and it promptly blows up.  Just like in Robocop.  There the thug drops a cigarette in the spilled gasoline on purpose to destroy Robocop.  He just ends up looking silly when Murphy hands him his ass.

Most people will say Devin, the librarian protagonist/catalyst, is a copy of Barbara Gordon, but actually Devin is the best part about The Answer, and she doesn't reflect Barbara Gordon at all personality wise.  Rather this obsessive puzzle solver is an original creation with an authentic voice.  She was possibly inspired by Barbara Gordon, who was the role model for librarians everywhere.  Behind the mousy exterior beat the heart of Batgirl.

Devin is no Batgirl, and her weakness for enigmas lands her into trouble and an encounter with the Answer, who isn't a horrible creation but like Francavilla's Black Beetle more visually powerful than deep.  He's an archetype of the urban vigilante, but I've seen far worse, and Norton's artwork is quite appealing.  He also carries the illustrated narrative well.  Good for anybody with disposable cash, or wait for the trade.

Pick of the Brown Bag

September 19, 2012

by 

Ray Tate

Today in the Pick of the Brown Bag, I'll cover The Judas Coin an original graphic novel by Walt Simonson,.  It's another big week for DC zero issues.  Birds of Prey, Catwoman, Nightwing, Supergirl and Wonder Woman are all ripe subjects for the POBB, as well as the brand new Sword and Sorcery with the pre-Crisis character Amethyst and the even older hero Beowulf.  I'll also look at Young Justice, the all-ages title spinning-off from the television series.

Let's Get This Party Started

I'm an atheist and because of my skepticism I have low tolerance for anything based on Christian mythology.  Crosses and holy water against vampires? That's something I can accept at least for an hour or two.  Young Samson and Goliath sure.  

Angels or a benevolent god?  Forget it.  Thankfully, I don't have to believe for a second in order to accept the premise in Walt Simonson's time-spanning graphic novel The Judas Coin.  

Simonson leaves plenty of wiggle room for people like me.  In the tradition of the storytellers of old, Simonson establishes that the story may have happened, or it may not have happened.  It's a story, related to generations and perhaps amended down the line.  So maybe we're talking about the legend of Jesus and Judas, or maybe not.  Maybe it's Brian.

The key is that a curse falls on the coin in question, or perhaps the coins in question.  Well, the Hope Diamond is supposed to be cursed, and that's a real world object.  So I can accept that lots of bad things happened to people in possession of the coin but these events weren't necessarily caused by the supernatural, merely greed and happenstance.

After the preamble, the story kicks off with one of the most obscure DC comics characters from The Brave and the Bold.  The Golden Gladiator defines honor to his friend Caesar. No, not the monkey, or Julius.  The Golden Gladiator's colleague is Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasian Augustus, a real world Emperor of Rome.  Simonson did his research.  He sets the story in Germania, where Vespasian made his first impression as legate.  Marcus and Vespasian attempt to parlay with allies.  They find traitors and outlaws that might be persuaded to join their cause, only if the accursed coin doesn't foul their intentions.

Next Jon the Viking Prince and his men discover an island tribe that use the coin as a talisman.  The encounter leads to an episode that's almost Pythonesque in nature, albeit with a more dramatic sensibility.  It's here that you notice Simonson starting to tweak his artwork to suit either the period or the fame.  It's still very vividly his style, but the illustration in this short bears some nuances from his early work which included nods to Joe Kubert, the co-creator of the Viking Prince, also representing The Brave and the Bold.  

I was a little surprised not to see the Silent Knight among the heroes contesting against the curse of the coin, but Simonson jumps ship to Adventure Comics with Captain Fear next.  In the past, Alex Nino related the pirate's escapades.  Nino's artwork and Walt Simonson's renderings look somewhat similar to begin with.  Nino however was more of an evoker.  He put in just enough nuts and bolts to recreate the atmosphere of the period.  Simonson provides sharp, focused detail for mutiny possibly caused by a rather familiar looking coin.

Galloping into the west, Simonson brilliantly characterizes the trickster Bat Lash.  Watch as DC's Maverick out-talks and out-thinks his way out of a comeuppance from a sore loser.  Of course all of these dominos could have been initially toppled by a coin lying in the kitty.

Modern times finds a coin master matching wits against rival thieves, and when the bottom falls out of Two-Face's plans, he finds himself in the odd role of spectator watching and even admiring the Batman bringing his nemeses to painful justice.  Unfortunately for the Dark Knight, chances favor the criminal, or was it chance? Might not a curse and a coin jinxed the Batman's wants?  Simonson goes black and white for this case.  Combined with the widescreen horizontal format, the story feels like a comic strip, a particularly dramatic one.

In the final short, Simonson takes the coin to the future of Manhunter, his presence no doubt a gag on Simonson's most famous character.  This Manhunter is not Paul Kirk but the near one-shot Manhunter 2070.  Simonson shifts his art to anime and breaks out looser sexual mores to make the finale even weirder.

The Judas Coin is a steal, and every page earns each penny.  The paperstock beautifully reproduces Simonson's artwork and draws out the deep rich colors of Lovern Kindzierski.  Here's hoping this isn't the last prestige hardback from Simonson.

Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns characterized the elder Selina Kyle as a madame who ran a call girl service.  That imaginary future for Batman and his mythology became canon to the post-Crisis DCU.  Miller based his Year One on the past he hinted at in Dark Knight Returns.  A poorly conceived Catwoman miniseries also corroborated Miller's hooker master-plan.

When Jo Duffy began the first ongoing Catwoman series, the first thing she did was fudge the newly minted history.  She re-established Catwoman as a lifelong thief that only pretended to be a prostitute in her early days of larceny.  Good for Duffy.

Rolling unsuspecting johns was simply an easy way to steal cash fast.  Duffy also erased Selina's friend Holly, who was killed previously in Showcase after managing to rise from the gutter to the upper crust.

Ed Brubaker cherry picked from Miller and Duffy.  He audaciously and inexplicably resurrected Holly, but he wisely glossed over Selina's past.  Jeph Loeb chucked all of Catwoman's post-Crisis continuity out the window in favor of a parallel to the animated series version.  This Catwoman also fit in with some of her appearances in Grant Morrison's JLA and Devin Grayson's Gotham Knights.

Despite all these different origins, Catwoman actually holds some immunity.  The fact is that most people have a fixed idea about who and what Catwoman is.  None of the muck tends to sticks.  The perception is quite simple.  Catwoman is a master thief who fell in love with Batman, the world's greatest detective.

The post-Crisis is no more, and the new 52 reigns supreme.  With the zero issue, Ann Nocenti debuts as the new Catwoman writer, and she orchestrates a new beginning for Selina that's closer to the ideal.  

The reason why Selina's so good at stealing is that she survived a childhood of thieving mistakes.  As a youngster, Selina and her brother were artful dodgers working for a corrupt Fagin who headed the orphanage where the siblings plied their trades.  It's funny but Gotham City had quite a few orphanages.  The addition of Selina's brother incidentally is not a new invention.  He debuted in a 1952 issue of Batman as The King of Cats.  

An example of why most 1950s comics should be avoided. 

As Selina grows older, she goes solo and starts attempting the art of disguise; a classic trick she employed in her 1940 debut as the Cat.  Although, rather than opt for a Hollywood styled makeover with latex, Selina tries to assume other roles and finds this task daunting.

Selina becomes better and better at dishonesty.  As a result she grows more cunning, and her research into different lives hones her intellect.  This is where we find her.  Only she's not searching for jewels.  She's seeking her identity.  Nocenti calls back to the distant past once more.  She plays with the idea of Catwoman's true identity.  At one point in the 1950s Batman lore, Selina Kyle suffered from amnesia.  She adopted the  Catwoman persona because she didn't actually know who she was.

The Cat seemed like a whole being.  Catwoman and Selina Kyle could have been two individuals, something Tim Burton and Michelle Pfeiffer played up in Batman Returns.  The clothes maketh the woman.  Catwoman's costume arose mainly out of comic book convention.  Costumed criminals were simply popular.  She could have theoretically stayed free from the distinction, but that's not how history played out, and the idea of she becoming a costumed felon gave greater credence to the amnesia angle.  

In the end the whole amnesia explanation satisfied nobody, and it was relegated to the designation of ruse.  There's only one good origin for the cat motif Selina Kyle chose, and Nocenti sagely employs it.

Nocenti has somebody else throw Selina off the rooftop, but there's no doubt that the kitties that revive Selina padded from Tim Burton's cat flap.  The scene also exemplifies how well Adriana Melo choreographs action, drama and lays out dynamic panels.  

Birds of Prey writer Duane Swierczynski produces the most original of the zero issues.  

He integrates three of the Birds into the new 52's past, and this book pretty much kills the Oracle identity for Barbara Gordon.  There's simply no evidence to suggest she was anybody but Batgirl.  For me, that's pennies from heaven.  For Oracle fans, well, they can suck it, like I had to do for twenty-three years.

Every cell in my body loathed the crippling of Barbara Gordon.  That's about 100 trillion units of hate, but I also had issue with the Oracle persona.  To whit, Barbara Gordon would never have joined the Suicide Squad unless she meant to destroy it from within, but there was no indication of duplicity.  

The Bronze Tiger murdered the original Batwoman.  The original Batwoman was Babs' friend and colleague.  Depending on what day it was, the original Batwoman existed in the post-Crisis and her murder was canon, sometimes.  Batman for example mentions the original Batwoman during Knightquest, when he employs the Bronze Tiger, something that also wouldn't happen but did.  The Bronze Tiger claimed brainwashing as a defense, apparently accepted by all.  It's a crap copout, and Batman would have recognized the Tiger's state when beating the snot out of him in the pre-Crisis.

Babs working alongside Batwoman's murderer? No way in hell.  Babs ending him? That I could have accepted and admired.

When Babs creates the Birds of Prey, the conception made more sense than Babs joining the Suicide Squad.  However let me emphasize.  As soon as DC started reintroducing magic and alien technology back into the post-Crisis DCU Barbara being confined to a wheelchair stopped being even remotely possible.  As soon as Batman was healed from his crippling by a mutant named Shondra Kinsolving, Barbara's paralysis became ever more insulting.

That's of course the old.  We know that in the new timeline Barbara Gordon was crippled by the Joker.  However, she was healed, in all probability through the direct involvement of Batman, approximately two years before her re-emergence as Batgirl, with regard to the formation of the Justice League.  This adventure occurs likely a few months the Joker felled her.

Fresh from Team 7, Diana Lance learns of a deal going down at the Penguin's nightclub, the Iceberg.  She infiltrates the club under the pretense of obtaining a job with security.  Since this demands smacking around Penguin's security, artist Romano Molenaar enjoys a wide berth of artistic freedom, the freedom to have Black Canary kick ass.

Romano Molenaar's artwork is a definite boon to Birds of Prey.  His ladies are proportionate, exhibit fluid motion and engage in deadly displays of martial arts.  I wouldn't mind seeing him as the regular artist on Birds of Prey, assuming that the spectacular skills of Cliff Richards are unavailable.

Once ensconced in Penguin's nest, the Black Canary meets Evelyn alias Starling, the Penguin's henchwench.  The ladies take an immediate liking to each other despite being ostensibly on the other side. 

Starling is bisexual.  In fact, she's the best bisexual/lesbian hero in the new 52 and one of the best ever.  Thanks to writer Duane Swiercynski, Starling possesses a far more entertaining personality than depth deprived Batgirl substitute number five Batwoman.  That personality pops from the dialogue when she interacts with the Canary and when she encounters Batgirl for the first time.

Starling is sexually drawn to the Black Canary, but that's only part of the story.  Swierczynski isn't simply relating a dry origin.  He's got three surprises revealed at the conclusion for regular Birds of Prey readers.

Batgirl cameos in an issue of Young Justice this week, and her brief appearance is really the only reason why I purchased the title.  Nevertheless, it was a better read than I thought it would be.

Miss Martian is my favorite character in Young Justice.  This ridiculous post-Crisis femme Martian Manhunter, with an origin blatantly contradictory to DC's entire history works extremely well without the backdrop of the mess that was. 

In Young Justice Weisman gives her an adoptive family, a love interest, a sparkling personality and an intrinsic role on the team.  Artists Christopher Jones and Zac Atkinson furthermore make Miss Martian as cute as a button.

Another alien makes guest appearance.  Young Justice writer Greg Weisman bases this version of Superman on the animated series Superman voiced by Tim Daley and George Newbern.  Never ever a bad thing.  

Justice League colleague Zatanna appears for a warm, amusing running gag.  Zatanna it turns out was a member of Young Justice, and in the present, she just joined the Justice League.  I have to admit that it's a good and novel fit.  Batman The Animated Series introduced Zatanna as the young daughter of Zatarra who crushes on a young Bruce Wayne. 

Although for all-ages, Young Justice still exemplifies a book that doesn't talk down to its audience.  The creative team for example depict a mature relationship between nineteen year-old Dick Grayson and the grown up Bette Kane, indicating that the creators feel that kids are sophisticated enough to know that adults have sex.

Ultimately, I can't really recommend Young Justice as fully as I would have liked.  The art's elegant and welcoming like most of the all-ages tie-ins that were, Batman Adventures, for example, but the story jumps around time all too frequently, and this is not a time travel story.  Rather, for no reason at all, the story starts at a point where Nightwing is Robin, then jumps to his future.  The same kind of jump occurs when Superboy meets Clark Kent for the first time and then reacquaints with Kent when he covers the present day rally for an outspoken critic of the Qurac regime.  Weisman and company in between these flashbacks/flashforwards also cut to Nightwing and Wonder Girl recruiting the Blue Beetle.

Young Justice ties in more with the post-Crisis DCU than any other animated series.  It's still in its own continuity.  Batgirl's walking after all, but people weeping for the post-Crisis chaos may find what they want in this series.  It's not exactly the post-Crisis, but Ted Kord was murdered.  No indication if comic relief shot Beetle in the head.  Jamie Reyes is the second Blue Beetle.  The presence of Qurac is a big DCU callback as is the Queen Bee, Lagoon Boy and Rocket from the Milestone Universe.

Nightwing zero deals with familiar territory, but writer Kyle Higgins adds dimension to the death of the Graysons through an adorable birthday gift that highlights what Dick lost.  

This is a uniform trait in the new 52.  The writers don't just make the parents of the heroes footnotes in their histories.  They've been imbuing them with depth and power.  The Waynes in Scott Snyder's absolutely brilliant Night of the Owls resonate, and you feel a sense of Bruce's loss.  The Waynes were nice people who loved their son.  The Graysons are no different.

Higgins shorthands the characterization of the Graysons by qualifying them in a typical parent-child scene, and though they punish Dick Grayson for doing something stupid, they clearly punish out of love.  Dick must learn from the rules he broke.

When Tony Zucco murders the Graysons, Higgins looks to the animated series for inspiration.  When Bruce speaks you can hear Kevin Conroy's empathy toward "the boy."  This is no mere copy.  Higgins once again brings nuances to a scene enhanced by artists Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira and Rod Reis.  Co-plotter Tom DeFalco with Higgins furthermore gently tease the bare bones of Robin's origin story into the twenty-first century of the new 52.  Dick does not become Bruce Wayne's ward.  Rather, Bruce Wayne offers the police a safe haven where Dick Grayson can recuperate.  Bruce takes Dick out of the Wayne Care Center when Batman encounters Dick searching for Zucco by himself on the streets, another echo to the animated series.

Fans of the character won't want to miss the special zero issue since it presents Nightwing in full uniform as Robin for the first time.  An attractive affair without the traditional short pants.  The story gives a strong reason why Robin dons the costume, and the illustrations of the Batman of the past in the new 52 visually allude to the original Dark Knight from Neal Adams.  If that's not enough I don't know what will fulfill your desires gentle readers.

Although Nightwing is a sad book.  It's not the saddest.  Supergirl feels like a gut punch.

The combination of Supergirl's youthful innocence, her absolute trust in her father Zor-El, and his willingness to sacrifice anything for her is just about the most heart-wrenching fiction I've experienced this year.  Thank not just Michaels Green and Johnson but also Mahmud Asrar's incredibly moving artwork.  His endearing body language for Kara, and the horrible eaten alive by guilt expressions of Zor-El combine to strike with potent impact that once again makes the reader feel what this hero has lost.

Supergirl divulges heretofore unknown details about the history of Krypton and the House of El.  The zero issue also reinforces what's already known. 

Green and Johnson emphasize that cloning is forbidden.  Kara is not a clone.  We do see however that Zor-El was conducting experiments on his daughter to make her more receptive to the gifts of the yellow sun, and he is somehow responsible for the World-Killers that Supergirl faced in her regular issues.  These experiments caused the rift between he and his brother Jor-El.  He always intended for Kara to stay in stasis in order to saturate her with yellow sunlight, which nicely sidesteps the age issue.  Kara was indeed young Kal-El's baby sitter, and while the emphasis is on Zor-El, Alura also appears to express love for her daughter.

I don't have much to say about Wonder Woman except that Brian Azarello and DC take the smartest step they've ever made in the Wonder Woman/Donna Troy/Cassie Sandsmark triangle.  They eliminate one side and "proudly present" the newest version of Wonder Girl.

Wonder Woman was Wonder Girl.  Thank the cosmos! No crazy John Byrne villain magic cloning! No firemen rescuing crying baby! No Wonder Girl predating Wonder Woman!  No Terry Long! Wonder Woman was Wonder Girl, just like she was back in the Bronze Age.  Presumably she was Wonder Baby as well.  Fan-tas-tic! Cliff Chiang's artwork even echoes that sweet Ross Andru illustration that made Wonder Girl's adventures so enjoyable.

I know didley-squat about Amethyst.  I saw ads for her series around the time of The Crisis on Infinite Earths, but the comic book was never available, and since I'm a tough sell on sword and sorcery books, I never looked into getting the back issues.  No worries.  The new 52 Amethyst is pretty self-explanatory.  On earth, she's a cross between Veronica Mars and Lisbeth Salander.  Off earth, blend in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the modern interpretation of Red Sonja, the original chick in chain mail.

Writers Cristy Marx and Tony Bedard make Sword and Sorcery very user friendly but not all ages.  The writers take a tip from C.S. Lewis.  The children who entered the Wardrobe leading to the land of Narnia aged and gained the wisdom and experience of adults.  When they returned to earth, they became children again.  This should come as no shock to any Captain Marvel readers.  A similar magic affects Amethyst.

On earth, she appears to be Goth with dark features and a preference for dark clothes.  Once on Gemworld here referred to as Nilla, she gains the more familiar blonde hair and purple garb.  In an ingenious twist, she's just as surprised as the reader.

Amethyst's mother, Grace, has been training her since she was able to pick up a sword.  That gives Amethyst, or Amy, skills rare to other young women her age.  Those skills come in handy when she stops an attempted gang rape.

Such a crime might seem out of place in a book that's ostensibly a fairy tale, but rape and murder was the catalyst of Veronica Mars, and the books of Narnia and the Oz books of L. Frank Baum while written for kids didn't scrub their stories.  Gruesome things happened in these novels.  

The crime is furthemore not in the book for titillation.  The writers instead typify rape as a power trip and an act of humiliation, and it is attempted rape.  Amethyst intervenes thereby establishing her creds as no mean feminist hero.

When Amethyst and her mother set foot on Gemworld, their problems arise from Amethyst's aunt.  A witch of the highest order, or lowest depending on your viewpoint, Lady Mordiel absorbs the lifeforce of her bloodline, identified by the blonde hair.  All and all, it's a promising start to a new series that's not quite all sorcery or sword.