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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 Wednesday, March 5, 2008
JSA Classified #28 [DC; $2.99] is a rarity in these days of writing for the trade. It's a done-in-one issue and also a story with a thoughtful moral.
"Problem Solved" stars Jakeem Thunder and the Thunderbolt. Written by Fabian Nicieza with art by Steve Uy, the tale gives us a serious young hero whose impatience with the unmet human needs he sees all around him sets him on a most ambitious mission. He will use the magical powers of the Thunderbolt to make wishes come true. What he is slow to learn is that heroes can't be everywhere at once and that there are consequences to even well-intentioned actions. Nicieza has crafted a terrific story here. Jakeem is an admirable young man, but he's still a young man who doesn't know as much as he thinks he knows. To his credit, he is capable of learning from his mistakes and moving forward to help people in a somewhat less spectacular way than previously. He respects the other members of the Justice Society and they clearly respect him. By story's end, I felt I really knew the character and wanted to read more stories focusing on him.
Nicieza also deserves kudos for the explanation - delivered by Alan "Green Lantern" Scott - of why Jakeem's plan would not succeed as he hoped. In a DCU so often lacking in logic, the explanation made sense and made the story that much more believable. Artist Uy's style isn't quite to my taste, but his storytelling was good and, as he drew them, the various Justice Society members were all easily recognizable.
JSA Classified #28 earns an impressive four out of five Tonys. At a time when DC is launching titles with increasingly lame premises, it'd be a step in the right direction to give Jakeem a shot at his own title.
Having enjoyed the previous issue, I happily settled down to read JSA Classified #29-31 [$2.99 each]. The last thing I expected was the comics equivalent of a train wreck, one of those horrible-yet-fascinating tragedies from which you cannot avert your eyes no matter how hard you try.
Mr. Terrific, one of my favorite Justice Society members, was the headliner in a story by Arvin Nelson with artist Alex Sanchez. One of the two good things I can say about the story is that Nelson makes good use of the hero's ability to render himself invisible to electronic detection.
The plot in a nutshell:
During World War II, the JSA, including the original Mr. Terrific, went on a mission to destroy Hitler's V2 rockets and capture Werner Von Braun. But the Nazi scientist (that Nelson points out that, genius or not, Von Braun was a truly evil bastard is the other good thing I can say about the story) manages to fire off a rocket that never lands. Because it holds the still-living brain of Heinrich Himmler and the means to build a mass-driver on the moon, a weapon a senator plans to use to more or less take over the world. Along the way, the senator frames the modern-day Terrific for the murder of a Senate colleague who learned what the Senator was setting into motion.
What follows is Stargirl breaking into the computers of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, Terrific sneaking onto the Senator's hidden base from which the mass-driver will be activated, the JSA going to the moon to fight Nazi robots, and a very predictable save of Washington D.C. If there were a few jokes and better art, this could have been considered some high camp version of the JSA. But there's no indication Nelson is playing this story for laughs. At least not intentional laughs.
As awful as the story is, the Sanchez art is even worse. I swear, every character looks likes he or she is on steroids and/or suffering from some disfiguring super-acne. And this is a three-issue story. Didn't anyone look at the first issue when it came in and realize they had to put the brakes on this runaway train before it crashed?
JSA Classified #29-31 earn absolutely no Tonys. That someone at DC actually submitted it for consideration in the Glyph Awards has me wondering if Bizarro is working there.
******
ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP
Ultimate Marvel Team-Up: Ultimate Collection [Marvel; $29.99] is an impressive, one might even say "ultimate," collection of the 2001-2002 Ultimate Marvel Team-Up series - 16 issues - and the Ultimate Spider-Man Super-Special. Does anyone know what's the world record for using the word "ultimate" in a paragraph?
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by a variety of artists, some of them quite surprising, these team-ups are the mixed bag you might expect. But many of them are excellent and the least of them is still entertaining.
It took Bendis a few issues to reach his prime on these team-ups. The turning point: a three-issue tale featuring the Punisher and Daredevil. Drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz, the story is emotionally and visually powerful. Maybe it's because he doesn't have hundreds of stories in his past, but I think "Ultimate" Punisher is a stronger character than his Marvel Universe counterpart.
An encounter with the Fantastic Four drawn by Jim Mahfood is fun. A Man-Thing tale is notable for its gorgeous John Totleben and Ron Randall art. Ted McKeever's art for a Spider-Man/Dr. Strange two-parter is jarring, but the Ultimate Universe version of the Master of the Mystic Arts is terrific. Terry Moore's art for a Spider-Man/Black Widow meeting is sexy goodness.
My favorite story in the 16-issue run? That would be the one drawn by Chynna Clugston-Major wherein Peter Parker and his friends hang out at the mall with the X-Men. No fights, no tights, just great characterization and conversation.
The Ultimate Spider-man Super-Special is an exploration overview of Peter's life as Spider-Man to that point. It's drawn by 26 artists - including John Romita Sr. and P. Craig Russell - and the shifting styles don't always work from scene to scene. Even so, the story really gets inside Peter's head while examining what makes heroes from a variety of viewpoints. The word "special" is usually little more than hype, but I think this story earned it. Just as Ultimate Marvel Team-Up: Ultimate Collection earns the full five out of five Tonys. While not every story might earn that high a score, this gathering of so many fine stories for such a reasonable price, showcasing, as it does, so many characters and artists, makes this a must-have book for anyone who's been reading and enjoying Ultimate Spider-Man.
******
ADDENDUM
Once a week, most often on Wednesday, I'll be running reviews that have previously run on the Comics Buyer's Guide online forums.
Two reasons. It gives me a break that helps keep the longer Tony's Online Tips columns (1500-2000 words) coming your way the rest of the week. It allows me to include those reviews in the enormous and ever-growing TOT Archives.
While TOT remains a reader-supported feature, these "reprints" are free. They aren't charged to your "Tip the Tipster" donations, which, at this writing, have funded TOT through the month of March and well into April.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me and especially thanks for your generous support.
I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 03/04/2008 | 03/05/2008 | 03/06/2008 >>
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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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