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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 Monday, March 31, 2008
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I had promised myself I was done with Judd Winick, especially where DC super-hero comics were concerned. It has been years since I've enjoyed anything he's written. If someone named Winick the worst super-hero writer currently working in the industry - and there's certainly competition for that "honor" - I wouldn't automatically dismiss the claim as hyperbole. Still, he was some other critic's problem. I was done reading his stuff. Or so I thought.
I'm a judge for this year's Glyph Awards, awards created to honor the best in "black comics": comics by black creators, comics with black characters, comics for black readers. As such, I'm honor-bound to read comics submitted for consideration in these awards.
Someone from DC Comics included Titans East Special #1 [$3.99] for consideration in the awards. I'm guessing it was sent because the team's led by Cyborg and because the issue is partially inked by Norm Rapmund. I liked Cyborg when he was written by Marv Wolfman, the guy what created him. I've liked Rapmund's work in the past, though I don't know I could consider him for an award for a multi-inker comic. I do know that this "special" was terrible even by Winick standards.
SPOILER AHEAD
The plot in a nutshell:
Page after page of an inane flashback to a time when the Teen Titans were a pretty cool team. Cut to the present where Cyborg wants to reunite the old gang to train new members, said new members being some of the lamest super-heroes around. Which is okay since there is an excellent chance that, by the end of this issue, all of them were brutally killed by a mystery villain. The guy who was impaled by a tree limb the size of his chest is almost certainly dead, but Cyborg may have survived with just his arms, legs, and everything below mid-waist blown to bits. Oh, yeah, the story is continued in Titans #1. I can hardly wait.
SPOILERS OVER
Cyborg comes off as incredibly whiny as he tries to get his former teammates to rejoin the Titans. His former teammates come off as enormous rhymes-with-clicks as they turn him down. His incompetent recruits are pretty much the dregs of the DCU's young heroes. In fact, one of them is a mentally and physically abusive stalker, not exactly my idea of a hero.
About the best I can say about the visual end of this comic book is that penciler Ian Churchill draws well and that he's well served by his trio of inkers. But his storytelling is as clunky as Winick's writing with much shameless pandering to the drooling adolescents in the audience. A shower scene. Heroines posed to show off their big breasts and butts. Geez.
You know the drill...and you've read enough of my reviews to know where this is heading.
Titans East Special #1 gets no Tonys.
The Iron Man of the "real" Marvel Universe is a manipulative super-villain who routinely stomps on civil rights in pursuit of personal power. Happily, the "Marvel Adventures" version of Tony Stark is still the armored hero from the comics of my youth.
Marvel Adventures Iron Man Vol. 2: Iron Armory [Marvel; $7.99] reprints issues #5-8 of the ongoing title, four stories written by the talented Fred Van Lente. Each "all ages" tale is complete unto itself and each showcases some variant of the hero's armor. Each story is entertaining and one of them has such a great premise that it deserved to run more than one issue.
"Pirated" pits Iron Man in his Deep Sea Armor against the vengeful Commander Kraken. Drawn by Rafa Sandoval (pencils) and Roger Bonet (inker), it puts Stark in serious jeopardy and follows through on these moments with thrilling escapes. The story could have used an additional page or two - the ending seems rushed - but it's a good one. On the downside, it and the other stories in this collection frequently suffer from overelaborate computer coloring that made me feel as if I were reading them through a layer of mud.
In "Destructive Reentry" - pencilled by James Cordeiro with inks by Gary Erskine - Stark uses his Space Armor to reach a space station imperiled by the Living Laser. Van Lente plays with some way cool sci-fi ideas and delivers a satisfying ending.
Doctor Doom seizes a planeload of Stark friends and employees in "Ghost of a Chance" and holds them for ransom, demanding a weapon that could destroy the Fantastic Four. Iron Man must resort to his unarmed and untested Ghost Armor to save his people. Graham Nolan (pencils) and Victor Olabaza (inks) provide the excellent art while Van Lente delivers another satisfying ending.
"The Simple Life" is the gem of this book. Justin Hammer hires a super-powered hitman to keep Stark from testifying against Hammer in an upcoming trial. When said hit goes awry, Stark ends up in a nameless village that eschews technology. He clashes with some of the town's more rigid citizens until, faced with a second attack by the assassin, he must built the oddest armor of all. Again drawn by the Sandoval/Bonet team, this story had such a great background and potential for further character interaction that I wish it had run for several issues. Let's hope Van Lente revisits this village in a future story.
Marvel Adventures Iron Man Vol. 2: Iron Armory earns an impressive four out of five Tonys.
I didn't know what to expect from Super-Villain Team-Up: Modok's 11 [Marvel; $13.99], but how could I resist a story featuring such an interesting assortment of characters? And how far into this review can I get before pointing out that MODOK only has eight minions in this collection of the five-issue series? Not to worry. I'm not here to quibble about the math.
Fred Van Lente has written a "caper" tale that's big on fun, filled with twists and turns, and so well-crafted that, despite all these characters, each with his or her own history, the reader never has to run to Wikipedia to figure out who's who and what's up. This is how Stan Lee and Roy Thomas taught their writers how to write comic books; this is how you make even complicated stories accessible to readers who aren't walking Marvel encyclopedias.
The plot in brief: Modok is weary of being hunted by A.I.M. [Advanced Idea Mechanics], the criminal scientists who "made" him and so he seeks a prize that will bring him incredible wealth and blessed safety from his former masters. He recruits down-on-their-luck villains and a few semi-heroes to carry out his caper. But there are others who want the prize as well.
Van Lente does some cool things with some characters - I loved his takes on Deadly Nightshade and the Puma - and puzzling things with some others. His Rocket Racer is very different from how I recall the character from the Rocket Racer shorts I wrote many years ago. But that's a minor quibble and didn't hinder my overall enjoyment of this collection. From start to satisfying conclusion, Modok's 11 delivered solid entertainment.
Kudos should also be extended to penciler Francis Portela and inker Terry Pallot for spiffy drawing and storytelling, to colorist "GURU eFX" for the lively hues that supported and didn't overpower everything else on the pages, to letterer Nate Piekos of Blambot for the easily-read copy, and to editors Mark Paniccia and Nathan Cosby, who must have done many things right in putting together the original series.
Super-Villain Team-Up: Modok's 11 earns an impressive four out of five Tonys.
******
TONY POLLS
Face front, true believers. This is your final day to vote on last week's Tony Polls questions re: the political leanings of a dozen comic-book heroes and villains. You can cast your votes by going to:
www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/poll
Sometime after midnight tonight, those questions will be taken offline and replaced by new questions. I haven't written those new questions yet, but I suspect they will be appropriate to the date. As always, the voting will be open to all, regardless of county of origin or condition of sanity.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 03/28/2008 | 03/31/2008 | 04/01/2008 >>
Discuss this column with me at my Message Board. Also, read Heroes and Villains: Real and Imagined.
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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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