2 in 1 Showcase Episode 214: The News From C2E2

It’s all Blake again this week as we delve into the news from the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, or C2E2 for short! The new Wonder Woman costume, the newest cast member for The Dark Knight Rises, the new creative teams for Punisher, Daredevil, Moon Knight and Ghost Rider… and are Captain America and The Flash both re-launching again? Good grief. It’s a double pick this week, Justice League: Generation Lost #21 and Ruse #1! Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!

Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.

Episode 214: The News From C2E2

Justice League, Superman and Solar — Three Reviews

Here we go again, short looks at three of this week’s comics, beginning as usual with a look at something from the Brightest Day…

Justice League: Generation Lost #5: Over the last few issues, we’ve watched as former members of the Justice League International were forced together again to try to hunt down Maxwell Lord. When the new Blue Beetle and a rogue Rocket Red were manipulated into their group, Booster Gold realized that Max, again, was playing them. This issue, the hastily-assembled “team” faces Max, demanding answers for why he’s brought them together… the answer is a bit of a surprise.

When Maxwell Lord killed Ted Kord back in Countdown to Infinite Crisis, to say it came as a shock would be an understatement. As surprising as it was, though, I was never compeltely astonished that Max WOULD do it, just that he DID. Max was always a manipulator. But he’d also been protrayed as a real friend to the JLI members over the years. I get the sense that part of this storyline is intended to try to reconcile the true Maxes, to show how he COULD be the sort of person who considered himself Ted Kord’s friend, but still put a bullet in his brain. I’m surprised to say that I think it’s actually succeeding pretty well. Judd Winick and Keith Giffen have worked in the new Beetle and Rocket Red into the group pretty easily, and in a way that makes you believe they’d both stay with the team as the hunt for Max continues. And while we aren’t feeling sympathy for Max, while we still blame him for what he’s done, that doesn’t mean we aren’t starting to feel like we’re understanding him a bit. Five issues in, this book is holding up very well.

Rating: 4/5

Superman #701: In the prologue to “Grounded,” J. Michael Straczynski brought Superman face-to-face with a woman who blamed him for her husband’s death. Shaken by the encounter, Superman decided that he needs to re-set his roots in America, and he’s going to do that by walking the country. This issue, we see his first stop in Philadelphia. People are stunned, of course, to see the man of steel on the ground, on foot, but he quickly shows why he’s really there — to interact with real people.

Straczynski’s story is a slow one, but that’s the nature of this kind of story. Yes, it’s similar in concept to the old “Hard Traveling Heroes” series from Green Lantern/Green Arrow, but the execution is already very different, just by nature of this being Superman. The point of this issue (which a lot of the critics are wildly missing) is twofold — this story is about showing Superman how people without powers deal with the day-to-day, and it’s about showing just what those ordinary people think about Superman. There are lots of little beats here, from Superman not having the money for lunch to an innovative way to deal with drug dealers. The scene with the jumper was absolutely spot-on perfect, a flawless demonstration of who Superman is and why that person matters so much more than the powers (which, again, those conclusion-jumping critics wrongly assume he’s not using in this story).

I’ve really loved some of J. Michael Straczynski’s comic work, but I’ve also found some of it really rather stale. This book is on the good end of the spectrum. It’s one of the best looks at Superman I’ve read in a very long time.

Rating: 4.5/5

Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #1: Once upon a time, a writer named Jim Shooter snatched the rights to a few defunct superheroes from Western Publishing and used them as the cornerstone of a new line of comics he was developing. Although Valiant Comics died about 15 years ago, the line and the characters still have their fans. Now Dark Horse Comics has picked up the rights to those same Western characters Shooter started with, and they’ve given them back to him to reimagine for a second time.

Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #1 isn’t quite an origin story. Beginning some time after the accident that transformed Dr. Philip Solar into a being of energy, we also see in this issue that he has somehow caused an accident in the timestream that’s unhinged reality in interesting ways. Shooter has an unenviable task here. He can’t simply duplicate what he did with Solar when he wrote the character for Valiant nearly 20 years ago, but at the same time, chances are nobody would care enough about this character to read a new version of him if it wasn’t for the work Shooter did back in the day. He seems to have struck a balance that works for now. This Solar is closer to the Silver Age character than the one Shooter created for Valiant, but while the origin and universe is close to that first Solar, the tone and feeling of this comic is closer to the Valiant version. Solar feels like someone who isn’t quite human anymore, like someone who has transcended his humanity and is now becoming something else. I wasn’t really that impressed with the Free Comic Book Day preview of this title, but I decided to give the first issue a chance anyway. I’m glad I did. This wasn’t bad.

Rating: 4/5

And again, let’s look at some reviews from the last week or so. You can find these, and many others, at Comixtreme.com.

• Adventure Comics #516
• Astro City: Silver Agent #1
• Avengers Academy #2
• The Royal Historian of Oz #1
• Sweets: A New Orleans Crime Story #1
• The Thanos Imperative #2
• Uncle Scrooge #393
• Done-In-One Reviews for July 13, 2010 – In which I review Ender in Exile #2, G.I. Joe #20, Hawkeye and Mockingbird #2, House of Mystery #27, Irredeemable #15, Jonah Hex #57, JSA All-Stars #8, Kill Shakespeare #3, The Smurfs #1, The Stand: Hardcases #2, Sweet Tooth #11, Thor and the Warriors Four #4, Thor: The Mighty Avenger #1 and Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #708

Recent Comics Roundup: Brightest Day with extra Green

Okay, gang, how about another roundup of recent comic book releases. I’ll give you my usual slate of Brightest Day comics, then tomorrow I’ll get into some other recent books, including a few Heroic Age comics and the big Wonder Woman #600 that all the kids are talking about. Let’s get to it.

Green Lantern Corps #49: In part two of “Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns,” Boodikka and John Stewart undertake a mission to planet Grenda, home of the robot Lantern Stel, who has gone incommunicado. Shortly after his arrival, though, John finds himself under attack by an unexpected source, and Kyle Rayner, Ganthet, and Soranik Natu go out to rescue the rescue mission. We also get a glimpse of the fallout from Deadman’s battle with the Anti-Monitor in Brightest Day #3, as it seems to be playing into this storyline. Ever since the Alpha-Lanterns were introduced, there’s been something distinctly creepy about them, and this issue seems to be pulling the curtain back a bit on them. We’re getting to see some of what they’re really up to, and while we still may not quite know why they’re behaving this way, the fact that they are is disturbing enough. Tony Bedard does still have room for character beats, though. The recent return of Kyle’s late ex-girlfriend, Jade, is causing trouble in his current relationship with Soranik. We also really get to see what makes John Stewart tick in this issue. I’m very happy that he’s joined the cast of this book full-time, as in just two issues he’s gotten more exposure than he did in the past 25 issues of the core Green Lantern title. Ardian Syaf gets to play with a lot of redesigns this issue, and he does a fine job. He’s rapidly rising up the ranks of DC’s bests artists, and this is one of DC’s best comics.

Rating: 8/10

Green Arrow #1: Hey, look, it’s a Green Arrow #1! It must be at least two, three months since we had one of those. At the beginning of Brightest Day, the devastated Star City became the site of an enormous star-shaped forest. Oliver Queen, now unmasked and disgraced as Green Arrow due to his murder of Prometheus (in Justice League: Cry For Justice), has taken to living in the forest, where he has become far more literal a modern Robin Hood than ever before. Not surprisingly, this issue is a lot of set-up. We find out where Ollie has been and what he’s been doing  since we last saw him, and we see what’s been happening to the power structure in what’s left of Star City. At the end of the issue, we see once again just how this title seems to be keyed in to Brightest Day, with a nice little reveal. While I’m still not sold that this revamp of the character justified yet another first issue for Green Arrow, I really do like what J.T. Krul is doing with him. He’s got a very good feel for Ollie, for who he is, for what he’s doing. Diogenes Neves’ artwork is strong, and interestingly enough seems to work better in the forest than in the city. Mauro Cascioli does a flat-out fantastic cover, one that really knocks my socks off. It’s not a knockout first issue, but it’s a strong one.

Rating: 7/10

Justice League: Generation Lost #4

The four JLI members who remember Max Lord, along with the new Blue Beetle, find themselves in Russia, unwillingly drawn into a conflict between a rogue Rocket Red and an entire squad of the armored Russian warriors. The new Rocket Red, a terrorist dedicated to the restoration of the Socialist rule, finds an unexpected ally in the former Justice League, and it’s Booster Gold of all people who starts to piece together what’s going on. Like many of the characters who returned from the dead, this issue we start to see that Maxwell Lord’s powers aren’t exactly like they were before his death. I find this particular mystery very interesting, and I’ve very much enjoyed watching it play out in several of the Brightest Day-branded titles. The reluctance of this group to form a team is also a really interesting way to play things. Judd Winick’s Power Girl last week didn’t impress me much, but his collaboration with Keith Giffen has been quite strong since this book launched. I’m enjoying the story, the mystery, and seeing these characters together again, which is what you want whenever this particular band is brought back together.

Rating: 7/10

Green Lantern #55: Lobo is back, and he’s on Earth to collect the bounty on Atrocitus. As the White Lantern still seems to want Atrocitus around, Hal Jordan finds himself in the odd position of defending the Red Lantern, along with Carol Ferris and Sinestro, from the last Czarnian. There’s a ton of action this issue, and Doug Mahnke does a great job of laying it out. The inks on this issue, though, are a little looser than I would like. Aside from the fight scenes, Geoff Johns also delves into the mystery of the strange being that seems determined to capture the Entities that embody the seven Corps. This has been a very strong element in this title, once that’s helped to propel the story forward since Brightest Day began. We also get a back-up story illustrated by Shawn Davis, the origin of the Red Lantern Dex-Starr. What exactly could take a cat from Earth and turn him into a brutal member of the rage-filled Red Lantern Corps? It’s a sad story, no surprise, and the last panel will break the heart of pretty much any cat-lover. Despite myself, I can’t help but hope that Johns returns to this story at some point and gives Dex-Starr the chance for a little payback.

Rating: 8/10

The Flash #3: Another Geoff Johns comic (the guy writes a lot of them, doesn’t he?) returns to the resurrected Captain Boomerang. Boomerang is back in prison, where he’s been given the “assignment” to break out before his fellow Rogues will consider accepting him back into the fold. Barry Allen, meanwhile, is being pursued by the Renegades – Rogue-based cops from the 25^th century – who are accusing him of the murder of one of their own… a murder that hasn’t happened yet. This is a damn ominous issue. Not only is Captain Boomerang shaping up to be much more of a threat than he’s been in the past, but Johns briefly brushes up against just why Barry could be driven to kill Mirror Monarch. Here’s a hint. Barry has killed before. Anybody remember what it was that drove him to it the first time? Two more things to love about this issue. First, Johns has brought back the old-school “Flash Facts,” with the help of artist Scott Kolins, giving us both actual science (how a Boomerang works) and some “Secret Files”-style in-world info, in this case about Captain Boomerang himself. The other thing to love is the art of Francis Manapul. I don’t know if it’s an improvement in his style or the colors of Brian Buccellato (or a combination of the two), but his style on this book is so far ahead of his work on Legion of Super-Heroes just a few years ago that you couldn’t tell it was the same artist. It’s fantastic.

Rating: 9/10

Justice League of America #46: After a two-issue prologue, the JLA/JSA crossover “The Dark Things” begins in earnest this issue. The Starheart has taken over Green Lantern Alan Scott, and the power is spreading across the Earth, causing magic- or elemental-based heroes and villains to lose control and wreak havoc on the world. The Justice League and Justice Society spring into action to shut down the elementals, while the newly-returned Jade tries to use her altered powers to try to figure out what’s happened to her absent father and brother. James Robinson does good work balancing the two groups of characters and exploring some of the new relationships that this team is afforded – Congorilla and Jesse Quick, Nightwing and Supergirl… characters that we haven’t seen together very much, but work well together. Mark Bagley juggles a ton of characters this issue and he’s got a good feel for most of them. The young League looks great, the older JSA not as much, and that’s just a consequence of his style. He’s always done young characters very well. In the back-up story, Pow Rodrix illustrates the tale of two JLA members that don’t appear to be on the current team. Cyborg has helped develop a new technology that may prevent Red Tornado from ever having his body destroyed again, but when Red Tornado loses control, that’s a pretty big problem. The story isn’t clear as to whether Tornado’s loss of control is related to the Starheart in the main story, but I rather hope it is, as it will give the second story a bit more weight.

Rating: 7/10

Tomorrow, some comics that have nothing to do with Brightest Day.