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Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"
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TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Let's get right to the LIGHTNING ROUND REVIEWS...
ACTION COMICS #830 and #831 [DC; $2.50 each] saw Gail Simone and John Byrne delivering a nifty two-issue VILLAINS UNITED tie-in as Doctor Psycho attacks Superman on the Man of Steel's home turf. In Simone's hands, Psycho's as nasty a villain as there is, but she also does well by the far more complex Black Adam. Byrne's pencils (inked by Lary Stucker and Nelson) are first-rate. It's a shame DC insists on stunt-casting with its creators, changing the creative teams every six months or so. It robs readers of the chance to see a good team - like Simone and Byrne - deliver entertaining stories month after month for as long as they have good stories to tell us. I'm sighing even as we speak.
ACTION COMICS #830/#831 get four out of five Tonys.
ACTION COMICS #832 is written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. It's a tie-in to the supernaturally-oriented DAYS OF VENGEANCE and reads like an "Oh, yeah, we forgot about Satanus guy in Metropolis" afterthought. It's an OK story with a neat scene between Lois Lane and her supposedly deceased father, but it didn't get me going the way Simone's earlier issues did.
ACTION COMICS #832 gets three Tonys.
ARCHIE'S PALS 'N' GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #97 [$3.59] offers just under 200 pages of suitable-for-all ages comics. My pick for best story in the issue would be "Safe But Sorry," starring Josie before she became Josie and the Pussycats. It's a thoughtful tale of the romantic choices available to a young lady. Other notable stories include a starring role for Chuck Clayton ("Speed Demon"), starring roles for Dilton and Moose ("Election Selection"), and a whimsical story drawn by Gene Colan ("Move Groove"). This digest earns three out of five Tonys.
Right from the get-go, I'll tell you that the only score I'm giving BATMAN: JOURNEY INTO KNIGHT #1 and #2 [DC; $2.50 each] is an "undecided." These issues are the opening chapters in a 12-issue series in which writer Andrew Helfer intends to explore, basically, why Batman turned out to be such a d***. I'm not sure I need that much information, especially given that I loathe the concept of the Batman as the DCU's uber-d*** as much as I loathe the concept that his Bruce Wayne identity is just a mask.
Helfer is a good writer. I've liked many of his past comics and also thought he was one of DC's better editors. The last part was something I should have never written for public consumption. It sometimes seems that, whenever I praise a DC editor, that editor is soon after invited to succeed elsewhere by the company...while a number of lesser-to-the-point-of-dim lights keep going on and on and on. But, now that Helfer is long gone from his editor's chair, I might as well repeat my previous statements that he was a pretty good editor who helmed some mighty interesting comics during his DC tenure. His departure was DC's loss.
JOURNEY INTO KNIGHT gives us Bruce Wayne at the very near the dawn of his Batman career. He doesn't know everything as he deals with a new designer drug hitting Gotham's club and an airplane full of plague victims. On the run is the "Carrier" of that contagious plague. Infected with same is our boy Bruce. Along with the good writing we get good art by Tan Eng Hunt and color by David Baron. As I said, I'm not sure we needed this series, but, thus far, it's holding my interest. Its ultimate success or failure - with me, at least - depends on how it develops and if it delivers a satisfying ending. Hence, my rating of...undecided.
There are times when I think BIRDS OF PREY should come with a program booklet identifying the characters in the series and their relationships, but I've come to accept that DCU titles are, by and large, not friendly to the less-than-obsessive DC reader, and enjoy the series for what is: an extremely well-written series with some of the best and strongest women characters in comics.
For this TOT, I read BIRDS OF PREY #82-86 [$2.50 each]. Gail Simone did a fine and entertaining job wrapping up the anti-crime caper/sting against local-to-Gotham and international drug dealers. There were good character bits for Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Black Canary, Wildcat, the Huntress, and Lady Blackhawk and the finale of the caper was a satisfying one. Running through the issues were a pair of sub-plots dealing with Oracle's fight against the computer virus implanted in her body and her troubled relationship with the Huntress. Again, both storylines were resolved in a satisfactory manner. Which, I firmly believe, is how you get readers to return issue after issue.
BOP #86 was three-stories-in-one. We saw the Birds relocate to Metropolis, a solo adventure for the Canary, and the resolution of the Oracle/Huntress situation. With art by Adriana Melo, Bruce Timm, and David Lopez, this special issue looked almost as terrific as it read. Which should not be taken as a slight against artists Joe Bennett (pencils) and Jack Jadson (inks). Their work on issues #82-85 was first rate as well.
The "needs a scorecard" thing still bothers me, but I've been enjoying BIRDS OF PREY too much for me to keep holding that against it. Issues #82-86 earn the full five Tonys.
Hiroaki Samura's BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL [Dark Horse; $2.99] is one of the longest-running manga series in America. I read issues #104 and #105 after not reading the title for a few years and was almost completely lost.
Dark Horse editorial tried to give me a leg-up. Every issue has an inside front cover giving the basics of the series: that an immortal warrior must atone for the 100 innocent lives he took by dispatching 1000 evil men. Then he will be allowed to receive the death and the end of battle which he seeks.
The writing and art on BLADE are fine. But the pacing of the story doesn't lend itself well to the monthly format. This series should be read in large chunks.
My first inclination was to give these issues of BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL a perfectly respectable three Tonys. However, I have to deduct a Tony for Dark Horse's labeling each of this issues as one-shots when they clearly do not tell a complete and satisfying yarn. They are chapters of a very long story and the deceptive labeling will surely disappoint new readers.
BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL #104-105 get two Tonys each.
More reviews tomorrow.
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COMICS IN THE COMICS
Halloween is our theme and our first example is Bill Amend's FOXTROT from October 27:
We get a mini-Batman in Matt Janz's OUT OF THE GENE POOL from October 30:
"Spider-Man" makes an appearance in Francesco Marciuliano and Craig Macintosh's SALLY FORTH from October 30:
The X-Men get a brief mention in TANK McNAMARA by Jeff Millar and Bill Hinds. This strip is from October 31:
Finally, "Wonder Woman" shows up the October 31 installment of WORKING IT OUT by Charlos Gary:
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FAST FICTION
My pal LEE "BUDGIE" BARNETT does this cool writing exercise at his Live Journal blog [www.livejournal.com/~budgie_uk]. His online pals give him a title (limited to four words) and a key word, then Budgie writes a story of exactly 200 words using said title and key word.
My challenge was "Ninjas in the Kitchen" and the key word was "friar." Budgie answered my challenge in the October 29 edition of his blog...and a fine little story it is.
As of yesterday, Budgie has written 91 stories in 91 days, an impressive feat. Mine was #89.
Besides myself, "name" challengers have included Dave Gibbons, Gail Simone, Larry Young, Bob Ingersoll, Jess Nevins, Scott Dunbier and Lea Hernandez.
If this sounds like fun to you, you can e-mail new challenges to Budgie at:
fastfics@hypotheticals.co.uk
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GET MORE TONY
My buddy ALEX NESS asked me to participate in a sort of "gang discussion" on horror comics, which he has now posted at his very cool POP THOUGHT website:
www.popthought.com/display_column.asp?DAID=904
The other participants all have better horror credentials than me - Stephen R. Bissette, Jamie Delano, Tom Mandrake, Steve Niles, and Ben Templesmith - but I don't think I came off too badly even in such wonderfully monstrous company. Check out the discussion; it's good stuff.
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POLITICS
So...all along I've been getting the occasional e-mail asking me to talk politics in this column. Then, all of a sudden, I start getting several e-mails asking me to talk politics in this column. What's a mild-mannered columnist to do?
Most of the big stuff doesn't need to have my voice added to the noise. I mean, you knew Bush was going to nominate an extreme right-winger for the Supreme Court after the beating he took from his rabid followers over poor Harriet Miers. Yes, it would've been wonderful if he took the high road here, if he would have looked at the Court and decided that, in the long run, a balanced Court would serve our nation better than a partisan one, but, come on, we know that the man doesn't have a working moral compass.
You knew "abortion" was going to be the hot-button issue for the nominee, which always pains me because neither side has a fair and moral take on it. Even so, it's incredibly divisive of Bush to nominate a judge whose views on the issue are clearly based more on politics than the law. Of course, it was also incredibly divisive of Bush to make Miers' evangelical religion a selling point in his disastrous campaign to put her on the Court. Once a drunken bully, always a drunken bully.
Moving on to Valerie Plame's outing by high-ranking members of the Bush administration, is anyone surprised that Bush again lied to the American people about holding members of his administration accountable - as in firing them - if they were involved in that act of treasonous politics? Is anyone surprised that Bush's supporters are willing to overlook this lie, just as they overlooked the lies which sent our troops to Iraq?
You don't need me for this stuff. You either know Bush is the least honest and moral president in our history or you, for reasons which defy logic, can't see the truth that's been in front of your eyes from the beginning of his presidency.
I don't think anything I write here will change your mind one way or another. You're either reading what you already believe or you're dismissing me as an anti-American liberal.
If it's the former, well, even when I am so obviously on the side of good, as I am here, it's boring for me to be an echo. If it's the latter, arguing with you is about as much fun as the root canal surgery I had last week and even less productive than playing spider solitaire on my computer.
However...there are local (Medina) and state (Ohio) political matters which have captured my interest. Those might be fun for me to write about and that's what I'll be doing in this section later this week. Let the suspense build.
In the meantime, amiable fellow that I am, if there are other national or world issues you want me to write about, especially if we're talking issues I haven't written about so many times before, ask away. We can dance if you want to.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 10/31/2005 | 11/01/2005 | 11/07/2005 >>
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THE "TONY" SCALE
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.
TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?
THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.
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