tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-110576872011-11-04T03:40:35.009-04:00Cranky Comics CommentaryThe Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.comBlogger2481100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1134057109224937592005-12-08T10:51:00.000-05:002005-12-08T10:51:49.303-05:00

I was discussing this issue with a friend the other day and we came to the same conclusion: for better or for worse, we're enjoying this book despite little to no involvement in the plot. I'm not sure whether that's a statement about us or about Mark Waid or, if it's the latter, whether it's a compliment or an insult. One of the necessary coping mechanisms of reading Legion is an appreciation of

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1133926648172382302005-12-06T22:37:00.000-05:002005-12-06T22:37:28.203-05:00

Here, on the other hand, the bleeped-out F-bomb works just fine. (this'll make sense if you're scrolling up.)For the first half, I laughed myself sick in spite of myself. Because, really. It was funny, but in a way that made me feel vaguely twelve. Or a Wizard reader. The second half was action drama instead of comedy and worked surprisingly well because Judd Winick laid off the angst. Jason and

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1133925192457604992005-12-06T22:13:00.000-05:002005-12-06T22:13:12.473-05:00

... What's up with the potty mouth?Seriously. None of the ^%^#%@ moments were outrageous within context, but considering that there's no precedent for them, they felt jarring and out of place. As for the actual issue... *sigh* The ugly first: The throwback funky-fonted debut of Lazara hurt. It was bad, worse than the throwback funky-fonted Batgirl at the end. Nora deserved better. So did Victor,

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1133922645881281642005-12-06T21:30:00.000-05:002005-12-06T21:30:45.940-05:00

Who knew? After the awesome drek that was All-Star Batman & Robin, the Ultimate DCU All-Star project had a dark cloud hanging over it like the news that Halle Berry had signed a three-picture deal to make Catwoman movies. Sure, the Superman book would feature the reuniting of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, but... Frank Miller and Jim Lee sounded promising in the solicits, too. This was fun.

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1130464010227749522005-10-27T21:46:00.000-04:002005-10-27T21:46:50.260-04:00

This may be a little scattershot because I'm still dizzy from being beaten about the head by Mark Waid and the Big Stick of Meaning. The first half of the issue had a couple of really, really great moments. On the drama front, Brainy's reacting to Nura's death was so powerful. The two of them have spent the first ten issues going at it hammer and tongs with the verbal combat, Brainy's intensity

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1130165956967014222005-10-24T10:59:00.000-04:002005-10-24T10:59:17.023-04:00

Most filler issues are slightly irrelevant focus stories, either on secondary characters or on facets of the lead's backstory that are nice to know, but really not necessary to the enjoyment of the series. This issue of Manhunter qualifies as such by training the spotlight on the provenance of Kate's costume. But it manages to be engaging and entertaining anyway, which is pretty much the zenith

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1130158485439142692005-10-24T08:54:00.000-04:002005-10-24T08:54:45.486-04:00

The best villains don't foam at the mouth. Ra's al-Ghul, when written well, wasn't the cosmic avatar for PETA. He was capable of boggling acts of destruction that put animals above humans, but there was always more to him. When written well, he made sense... in a perverted, impractical-because-genocide-is-never-the-best-answer kind of way. And then he died at his daughter Nyssa's hand and Nyssa

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1129909407936182162005-10-21T11:43:00.000-04:002005-10-21T11:43:27.966-04:00

Formulaic pablum (is that redundant?) for fanboys. I don't know what I was expecting here. The scope of the concept is far too great to squish into a six-issue miniseries, so instead Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons are working a sales pitch that has all the pizzazz of vanilla yogurt. Nonfat and slightly warm. Still not enamored of the whole Hill Street Blues-ification of the GL Corps, but I'm

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1129906770715466782005-10-21T10:59:00.000-04:002005-10-21T10:59:34.566-04:00

Once Deathstroke showed up, I really wanted to hate this book. Because Slade Wilson has turned into the DCU's Wolverine, the character who has to appear in every single title, and he gets less interesting with each appearance. Sadly, I do not hate this book. It was a little too much fun. While the memory of his awe-inspiring badness on Green Arrow has not been forgotten, Judd Winick has somehow

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1129904364670830942005-10-21T10:19:00.000-04:002005-10-21T10:19:24.686-04:00

I think it's safe to say that I'm past the phase where Greg Land's art interests me in the slightest. The phase probably ended sometime during Sojourn, if not before, but... we may be approaching Marc Silvestri territory, where his art actively keeps me from enjoying a story. On the other hand, Land's cheesecake art works perfectly with Mark Millar's soap opera of a plot. Of course Mama Storm is

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1129820889237641892005-10-20T11:08:00.000-04:002005-10-20T11:08:09.286-04:00

Considering I have no taste for horror literature and the fear factor of a preschooler when it comes to scary movies, I do seem to wind up with a surprising number of IDW books....The Keep is apparently an adaptation of a bestselling novel by F. Paul Wilson ("apparently" because I don't seek out that genre of fiction and couldn't care less about the NYT bestseller list). It's about... well, a

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1129736695942385252005-10-19T11:44:00.000-04:002005-10-19T11:44:55.966-04:00

Speaking of badness (well, if you're scrolling up...)I spent months griping about the tiredness of the "oh, no, Hawkman/Hawkgirl is dead!!!" storyline. I threw in some additional kvetching about how while the entire DCU is being sucked into Infinite Crisis, the fact that Hawkman was actively running against it while its characters were currently featured in one of the main prequel books was...

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1129734507294266652005-10-19T11:08:00.000-04:002005-10-19T11:08:27.306-04:00

I knew this was a lost cause the moment I realized that this issue was only readable if done in the style of Willam Shatner-as-Captain Kirk. That first page... with all the narrative... monologue... broken up by random ellipses... and full of unintentionally ironic pomposity... segues into typical Bob Harras lousy dialogue (broken by random ellipses) and eye-crossing attempts at plot. It felt

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1129733255103262622005-10-19T10:47:00.000-04:002005-10-19T10:47:35.486-04:00

Way to go spreading the secret recipe for NYC's award-winning water, Vaughan. (No, really, it does win taste tests.)Really random hydro moment aside, this was a pretty cool issue. Even if it does largely take place outside of New York and Vaughan thinks that Mets fans are the nasty ones. Mitchell Hundred's parental issues are well played here, staying strong and complicated without becoming sappy

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1129304674305502732005-10-14T11:44:00.000-04:002005-10-14T11:44:34.400-04:00

A few months ago, I think I would have reacted to this issue with a good bit of vitriol and some withering sarcasm. Because, really, it's deserving of it. The logical loopholes are quite maddening, the convenient forgetting of all recent canon that doesn't jibe with the story is frustrating coming from DC's official Kontinuity Kop, the plot -- such as it is -- is entirely reliant on having read

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1128351835505378612005-10-03T11:03:00.000-04:002005-10-03T11:03:55.546-04:00

* Because it was posted weeks ago but now the movie is finally out: the Mirrormask review. * The Death Jr. trade will be out in November. This is the darned nifty Mike Mignola cover art. Put this on your wishlists, folks. * Still embarrassingly behind on the Infinite Crisis reading and have resorted to cheating because, well, that pile looks no more appealing the longer it sits there unread. *

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1128338758814276442005-10-03T07:25:00.000-04:002005-10-03T07:25:58.873-04:00

Ted Naifeh, creator of the Courtney Crumrin series and collaborator on the recently completed Death Jr. mini, has created a cute little story that does for Gilbert & Sullivan what Courtney Crumrin did for Harry Potter. Namely, turn it on its ear. Like G&S, Polly & the Pirates is naughty and contemporary if you want it to be, but timeless and good-natured on the whole. Clever, accessible,

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1127490363178776042005-09-23T11:46:00.000-04:002005-09-23T11:46:03.236-04:00

(Yes, yes, going to the shop today, will have reviews this weekend) DC's solicits brought out the snark, Marvel's just made my eyes cross, but Image has some stuff coming out in December that might be entertaining: DUSTY STAR #1Written by Andrew Robinson and Joe Pruett, art and cover by Robinson.It's a different time and a strange place. It's burlesque shows and all-night poker games, robots and

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1127240382485637922005-09-20T14:19:00.000-04:002005-09-20T14:19:42.506-04:00

Overall, not much to look forward to since everyone's going to be playing the Crisis II game. A few swipes and suggestions:ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #4Written by Frank MillerArt and cover by Jim Lee & Scott WilliamsALL STAR excitement abounds as Frank Miller, Jim Lee & Scott Williams continue their adventurous retelling of the partnership between the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1127237674628176082005-09-20T13:34:00.000-04:002005-09-20T13:34:34.723-04:00

Considering I roasted the last Ellis book I read (Jack Cross #1), this came as a bit of a relief. It still felt like an Ellis book, but more like the Frank Ironwine entry into the Apparat stunt from last year rather than some fifth-generation Spider Jerusalem. The title character is not railing against The System, he's not Too Cool, and he doesn't seem to have any message or agenda. Detective

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1127148725939263852005-09-19T12:52:00.000-04:002005-09-19T12:52:06.013-04:00

Kris Kalenov's tale continues in this second issue of Brett Lewis's standout miniseries. Kalenov, a former soldier, spy, superhero, and current policeman and erstwhile wastrel has come to America and gone undercover among the brutal toughs in Little Odessa, aka Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Kalenov is nominally there as a result of a joint operation between the CIA and his bosses to track gangsters

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1127143768803741852005-09-19T11:29:00.000-04:002005-09-19T11:29:28.836-04:00

Go AWOL for a fortnight and things happen in your absence. Books that weren't nearly as bad as feared and have the Shrew worrying that she's mellowing in old ageOutsiders #28... Take away the part with Jade and this actually wasn't a bad issue. Yeah, surprised me, too. Judd Winick once again draws on the 'superhero men express their frustration through hot sex' trope (which I didn't think was a

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1126972614827958042005-09-17T11:56:00.000-04:002005-09-17T11:56:54.836-04:00

While there were a few sneaky turns here, the final installment of Homelands felt a little rushed and abruptly ended. Considering that most of the last two issues have been expository -- and most of those with Boy Blue in a birdcage -- Bill Willingham has been unusually deft (okay, so I'm apparently still smarting from Batman #644) in handling it. How the Adversary's empire was built and

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1126968518234830902005-09-17T10:48:00.000-04:002005-09-17T10:48:38.280-04:00

And so concludes one of the most delightful miniseries of the year.A rollicking good time like the first two installments, this issue is the one that most clearly ties the book into the forthcoming video game. For the most part it's not really a problem and this never reads like a commercial; there's a bit of a shift of focus to a more actiony story, but it largely works. It certainly helps that

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1126902050294661692005-09-16T16:20:00.000-04:002005-09-16T16:20:50.306-04:00

Yet another season finale that left me cold. Supreme Power has been a supreme frustration for the duration of its run. This should have been so very, very good and it wasn't. It was JM Straczynski's chance to take what he learned from the similarly themed Rising Stars and make a second effort that was leaner, meaner, and had a more manageable cast. But in trimming the fat, Straczynski ended up

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1126884488578670142005-09-16T11:28:00.000-04:002005-09-16T11:28:08.640-04:00

I've been out of the loop for a bit, so is it all right to be a little underwhelmed by the season finale of Astonishing X-Men? Overall, I'm of very mixed opinion about the issue and the season (borrowing the usage from American television and Ed Brubaker's Sleeper). There were some fantastic moments of characterization and human drama. Everything with Piotr and Kitty, separately and together, was

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125692913153489632005-09-02T16:28:00.000-04:002005-09-02T16:28:33.193-04:00

Bottom line right at the top: Scott Chantler's historical action-drama is entertaining and mercifully steers clear of pedantry, politics, and PC preaching. Clearly and simply drawn, it's a near-perfect book for a younger teen reader. This was cute, and I mean that in a positive way. Chantler's first big project is fantastic as far as debuts go. The narrative is clear, the story moves quickly and

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125576584488217172005-09-01T08:09:00.000-04:002005-09-01T08:09:44.496-04:00

Yesterday's post.Repeating the plea because the death toll is over 200 and rising. Give $5. Give $10. Give $3. Just give. The Shrew is giving to the American Red Cross, but also recommends:Catholic CharitiesSamaritan's PurseSolders' Angels' Operation: Katrina Soldier Relief Fund (think of the soldiers overseas who have no home to come home to; there are LA National Guards currently deployed to

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125544938702731232005-08-31T23:22:00.000-04:002005-08-31T23:22:18.713-04:00

JSA CLASSIFIED #2.... Lamest excuse ever for why PG's rack is on display. I'm sorry, Geoff, but that bit of attempted retconning is going over about as well as blaming the Giant Yellow Locust of Fear for Hal Jordan's gray hair. Also, the original Sacrifice arc is going on for entirely too long; repeating it -- especially the decompressed parts that were Supes fighting against enemies only he

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125541668849850712005-08-31T22:27:00.000-04:002005-08-31T22:27:48.900-04:00

This month's lesson: fakers won't be tolerated. I came out of this issue not too impressed with any Legionnaire save for Lyle, which may or may not have been Mark Waid's intent. I felt bad for Cham, who continues to give lie to Waid's odd description of him as "poisonously bitter" by acting every bit the child torn between two fighting parents, but the rest of the gang... Brainy's arrogance is

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125492117250127522005-08-31T08:41:00.000-04:002005-08-31T19:03:14.336-04:00

Today is New Comics Day... in most places. In southern Mississippi and Louisiana, they have greater concerns. New Orleans has truly become No Man's Land. There is looting, there are prison riots, and there are dead bodies floating in the streets. And there will be no Batman to save them.Here's a proposition: This is the list of books coming out today. This is a list of charities and relief

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125420608870216432005-08-30T12:50:00.000-04:002005-08-30T12:50:08.880-04:00

A few months ago, I muttered something about a movie screening. This was it. Mirrormask, the first film from longtime collaborators Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (Sandman, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, Violent Cases) is a visual feast. It is a project that strongly resonates with their past efforts even as it expands their vision into three dimensions. Fans of Gaiman's prose and

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125342577599854462005-08-29T15:09:00.000-04:002005-08-29T15:09:41.666-04:00

I'm split on this issue. Part of it was strong and riveting for its fury and part of it just gave me an uncomfortableness about future events in Infinite Crisis. The recap part of the issue seemed unnecessary -- the whole problem with Sacrifice was that it went on too long over just this ground, the whole Superman Loses His Focus When Lois Is In Danger angle combined with the Seeing Villains Who

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125337218296595852005-08-29T13:40:00.000-04:002005-08-29T13:40:18.306-04:00

In a week where Warren Ellis proves a pale copy of himself, Alex de Campi gives us confidence that the next wave of spy thriller conspiracy theorists is ready to assume command. Smoke concludes with a bang, very literally, but leaves enough open both to keep it from ending too neatly as well as to allow for the possibility of future stories featuring Rupert Cain. The bad guys haven't lost, but

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125336800256392332005-08-29T13:33:00.000-04:002005-08-29T13:33:27.920-04:00

Ah, back to the good stuff. The Decalogue wasn't bad, was in fact quite good in spots, but it was exactly what it was -- an homage to a European art house flick disguised as a miniseries. Comic books are already morality plays, so throwing in opaque symbolism and mood lighting... not so necessary. But with the start of The Murdoch Chronicles, Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev begin their swan song on

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125333029033615352005-08-29T12:30:00.000-04:002005-08-29T12:30:31.993-04:00

Warren Ellis hasn't degenerated into a parody of himself, but with the first issue of Jack Cross, he's certainly getting close to franchising. Like McDonalds, there's nothing here that we couldn't get in one of half a dozen other Ellis stories. The result is something that's a little stale and a lot familiar, warmed over by sitting under a heat lamp before it's handed over to the consumer by a

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1125242941217426652005-08-28T11:29:00.000-04:002005-08-28T11:29:01.283-04:00

Wow. Although the verbosity of the internal monologue, the inability to keep from giggling through what are supposed to be dangerous situations, and the thick coating of Super Friends/live-action Batman campiness are all redolent of Willingham's work on Robin, which was deemed unreadable long ago, this so far outstrips it as to require a different, grander vocabulary of invective and abuse. And I

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124998644747387582005-08-25T15:37:00.000-04:002005-08-25T15:37:24.763-04:00

The Rabbi's Cat is a graphic novel collecting three of Joann Sfar's previously published stories featuring, well, a rabbi's cat. It's a meditation on faith, family, and the art of truthtelling. And, for the most part, it is fantastic. The rabbi and his cat live in 1930's Algeria, which was still under French dominion and had a different religious and ethnic demographic than it does today. While

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124899225178664392005-08-24T12:00:00.000-04:002005-08-24T13:16:02.450-04:00

I have nothing interesting to say, so I will try to say nothing interestingly: Awkward dialogueDispleasing Tan Eng Huat artDid not finish bookDid not like premisethe cartoon meets the moviewithout a cute BruceToo many Batbooks Interest drops like dead leaveswill Crisis bring life?(with apologies to Scipio and to A, who did it first and better)

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124827590800078302005-08-23T16:06:00.000-04:002005-08-24T10:55:07.683-04:00

1) Yes, I know Buzzscope's on the fritz. It's temporary. (Sadly, it means some reviews of books I'm most excited about are currently inaccessible.)2) Because of the recent avalanche of spam comments, I've enabled Blogger's word verification for comments. The alternative is to require Blogger registration or eliminate comments altogether and while I may not always respond to comments, I do read

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124827157406685832005-08-23T15:59:00.000-04:002005-08-23T15:59:17.416-04:00

I've had nearly a week to come up with something to say about this and haven't, so here are some unrefined thoughts because I honestly don't know what to think. First reaction: Cross Rising Stars with The Secret of NIMH and toss it into a vaguely noirish future. Anthropomorphic creatures, the survivors of mad scientist's experiments, are regular and not-so-regular citizens in the twenty-third

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124725042794777432005-08-22T11:37:00.000-04:002005-08-22T11:37:22.820-04:00

... and the OMAC virus continues to spread at a rate to which avian flu can only aspire. This was a fast-paced issue with two threads working toward each other, great snark and action... that was nonetheless confounding and frustrating and readable only through the sheer talent of Marc Andreyko. Comic book geeks and those who aspire to that station were undoubtedly pleased with the lengthy lesson

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124709495007729092005-08-22T07:18:00.000-04:002005-08-22T07:18:15.016-04:00

I was a bit mixed on this final issue -- some earlier threads seemed dropped, some events rather random -- until I reread the first issue, when it all snapped into place with an audible click. Lex Luthor knew what he was doing and so did Brian Azzarello; they were both being very sly.I've said it before and I'll say it once more: if you skipped this mini-series because you weren't impressed with

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124680705624034032005-08-21T23:18:00.000-04:002005-08-21T23:18:25.636-04:00

This issue, the start of the two-part Nightingale arc, is a good jumping-on point for folks who have not yet tried this nifty little series from Jason Rand and Juan Ferreyra.Small Gods is a title that runs in discrete arcs -- everything takes place in the same Denver in the same universe, but while characters can overlap, each storyline runs on its own steam with its own leads. (Arcs thus far:

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124669126956983462005-08-21T20:05:00.000-04:002005-08-21T20:05:27.010-04:00

It is with great disappointment that I say that this book was a great disappointment. The premise of Rex Libris should have been fun -- a librarian who will go to all ends of the galaxy to retrieve overdue books and can use the completely random knowledge a reference librarian picks up to save books and maybe the universe. James Turner picked some clever reference points in the history of

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124486029781899962005-08-19T17:13:00.000-04:002005-08-19T17:13:49.846-04:00

What Palmiotti & Gray's Monolith both should have been and never could have been.Alex Lamas takes a turn with the old kabbalist stories of the golem and produces the first part of what I believe is supposed to be (what will hopefully be) a longer story of Gustav Kessler.Many stories of the golem can be, at their root, superhero stories. The golem is a mystical, spiritual thing, created only by

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124392904533361262005-08-18T15:21:00.000-04:002005-08-18T15:21:44.623-04:00

That was certainly worth the wait. The Winter Soldier (not to be confused with the brilliant debut of the similarly-themed The Winter Men) began two issues ago with a bang both literal and figurative. The first was the obliteration of parts of downtown Philadelphia by Alexander Lukin as a means of charging up the cosmic cube and, oh, yeah, causing a bit of terror. However, because nobody would

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124204965196875232005-08-16T11:09:00.000-04:002005-08-16T11:09:25.203-04:00

MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN #4 AUTHORITY: REVOLUTION #11BOOKS OF MAGICK: LIFE DURING WARTIME #13LUCIFER #65TOP TEN: BEYOND THE FARTHEST PRECINCT #1 BATMAN: JOURNEY INTO KNIGHT #1DETECTIVE COMICS #810 GREEN LANTERN #3 LEX LUTHOR: MAN OF STEEL #5MANHUNTER #13GIRLS #4SMALL GODS #10 ULTIMATE X-MEN #62ATOMIKA #4HIP FLASK: ELEPHANTMEN #1HIP FLASK: UNNATURAL SELECTIONREX LIBRIS #1This isn't a to-do

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124082122815511802005-08-15T01:02:00.000-04:002005-08-15T15:37:10.246-04:00

The Winter Men is part espionage thriller, part political drama, part noir detective story, and part cautionary tale of what happens when superheroes live past society's ability to dream. Kris Kalenov winds up investigating a murder-kidnapping that is messy enough on its own -- black market organ transplants, illegal adoptions, mercenary former special forces troops, the usual sorts of graft and

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124072924539258942005-08-14T22:28:00.000-04:002005-08-14T22:28:44.556-04:00

This was a very, very strong first issue... so strong it turned my tummy a bit. Rick Remender and Kieron Dwyer have put together a lovely, creepy story about a young woman with a gift. Annie Specter can dream lucidly -- she is aware within her dreams -- and, even more, she can enter other people's dreams. But because she uses her abilities in service of her father's clinic, all Mary ever sees are

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124070569973537322005-08-14T21:49:00.000-04:002005-08-14T21:49:30.013-04:00

Another vision of the future courtesy of the infallible insectivore:I enjoyed this far more than I have recent issues of Birds of Prey. And not just because this was the issue that seemed to assure me that Chuck Dixon is just a bad dream and we finally got rid of the execrable Brainiac!Babs subplot.read the rest here

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124055209549128512005-08-14T17:33:00.000-04:002005-08-14T17:33:29.556-04:00

Three parts in to Crisis of Conscience and I'm starting to feel like an insectivore on a hamster wheel -- running over and over the same geography. This arc is yet another fallout story from Identity Crisis with the same themes of betrayal and distrust and righteously indignant villains attacking our heroes through their civilian identities. I'm getting bored and throwing in Despero and Catwoman

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124046138739521002005-08-14T15:02:00.000-04:002005-08-14T15:02:18.746-04:00

Oh, this is much more like it.After a very disappointing start to the Destruction's Daughter arc last month, Andersen Gabrych rebounds nicely with this issue. Cass gets plenty of answers from guest stars Bronze Tiger and the Birds of Prey, but none of them are able to the question she most wants resolved... or, rather, the assumption she is waiting to be disproven: that her mother is Lady Shiva.

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1124034932281713522005-08-14T11:55:00.000-04:002005-08-14T11:55:32.286-04:00

It's always the quiet ones. This was the issue where Boy Blue learns who the Adversary really is -- and if you paid any sort of attention during the March of the Wooden Soldiers arc, then it was really no surprise. The how and the why were exceedingly clever for their subtlety, a modest tale of how little bit of wrongdoing for a greater bit of safety slowly and pervasively turned into a vast

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1123997770633669952005-08-14T01:36:00.000-04:002005-08-14T10:42:28.223-04:00

The Outsiders kick it old school style courtesy of Peter Tomasi and Will Conrad.Swap out Anissa Pierce for her dad, sub Rex Mason in for Shift, Batman in for Nightwing, Katana in for Grace, and keep Roy around and remember he's an adult and you've got arguably the most readable two issues of the series. Certainly of the recent issues. Shame when filler issues are the high points. The story is

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1123992976317281532005-08-14T00:16:00.000-04:002005-08-14T00:16:16.373-04:00

Between Ferro City and finally picking up The Nevermen: Streets of Blood, the Shrew does seem to have cornered the market on robot noir this week. I've been trying to write this review since Wednesday night, but each version ended up sounding like the book was closer to, say, JSA #76 than, well, something I didn't hate but wasn't blown over by. Ferro City isn't bad, but it could have been a lot

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1123878093675711222005-08-12T16:21:00.000-04:002005-08-12T16:21:34.026-04:00

Buzzscope put together a review of the first half of 2005. Since I got edited down to a single spliced quote, here's my full contribution. I stuck largely to mainstream books because that's where more people will agree or disagree. Top Five OngoingEx Machina Legion of Superheroes Manhunter Ult FF (Ellis) Young AvengersHonorable Mention: Batman (Winick), Y - The Last ManEx Machina had me from the

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1123603500691912032005-08-09T12:05:00.000-04:002005-08-09T12:05:00.700-04:00

Way back in June, I went to the MoCCA convention-type thingie and came away with a stash. I've been behind on reading some of it and certainly in reviewing any of it, so I'm going to make a concerted effort to start getting those done. Not completely randomly, but close enough, I'm going to start off by pimping Pop Culture Shock Therapy, which is a one panel cartoon project that would remind you

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1123555137527278932005-08-08T22:38:00.000-04:002005-08-09T10:05:56.873-04:00

I waffled for a few days deciding whether or not I should discuss this book. Because it pissed me off on many different levels and that was just by skimming it. I couldn't make it through a reading where I actually paid attention to the word bubbles. I should have known better than to try to read anything with Mister Terrific on the cover. Just out of curiosity, when did JSA stop actually being

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1123473695724773232005-08-08T00:01:00.000-04:002005-08-08T00:01:35.730-04:00

I think this is going to be one of those 'the less said, the better' reviews because, really, I've said it all before. (One and Two) Lovely art, achingly bad plotting and dialogue, and the bit of me that's still a Roy/Donna 'shipper wasn't distracted enough to forget just how miserable this miniseries is. No Empathetic Glowing Orb of Travel Joy this time, but we did get to see Donna's new costume

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1123471581710051772005-08-07T23:26:00.000-04:002005-08-07T23:28:34.406-04:00

If this had come out a year or so ago, I would have been much more excited about this than I am. But coming when it does, Justice #1 falls flat in any comparison to the similar Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, where Brian Azzarello's more dynamic and motivated Lex Luthor doesn't need group visions to start planning and where Lee Bermejo's stunning art blows Alex Ross's paintbrushes right off the page.

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1123467667604750412005-08-07T22:21:00.000-04:002005-08-07T22:21:07.613-04:00

SUPERMAN #219ACTION #829ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #642WONDER WOMAN #219Getting the griping out of the way right at the top because, on the whole, Sacrifice is a kicker of an arc: this would have worked just as well as a three issue storyline. You could have skipped either Superman or Action as they are basically interchangeable -- Supes battling some convenient archenemies in vaguely Silver

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1123462639723501412005-08-07T20:57:00.000-04:002005-08-07T20:57:19.743-04:00

This is the issue where everyone lost their #%^#%$.And it was fun.Cos versus Brainy has been a treat to watch for the entire series, a rivalry just this side of open warfare that somehow managed to keep feelings from getting bruised -- goats, anyone? Both young men have their visions of the role of the Legion in the United Planets, with Brainy plotting toward world domination in the name of

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1123391943957308262005-08-07T01:19:00.000-04:002005-08-07T01:33:33.436-04:00

Well that was entertaining. In a completely and totally different way than the just-concluded Giffen-DeMatteis arc, but not totally dissimilar to Warren Ellis's recently concluded Ultimate Fantastic Four arc. I thrill to anyone who can make Lois Lane and Clark Kent seem like two intelligent professionals who married each other for love instead of characters out of some perverse combination of I

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1122381904591343612005-07-26T08:45:00.000-04:002005-07-26T08:45:04.600-04:00

Just for the record: in the cartoon version of Day of Vengeance that plays in my head, Detective Chimp is voiced by (pre-illness) Jack Klugman. And so while half of you go to IMDB to figure out who I'm talking about and the other half work to erase that mental soundtrack, on with the show. Bill Willingham has created a fun team that works well together despite a total lack of teamwork and is

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1122346912344653932005-07-25T23:01:00.000-04:002005-07-25T23:56:16.583-04:00

I probably shouldn't be reviewing this book. I don't care enough to give it a full insectivore shredding. I have nothing kind to say except that it's really nice to know that Pieter Cross gets plenty of mousy treats for Hooty. Hooty, by the way, seems to have an eye for Power Girl's hooters. Geoff Johns definitely does, which seems to have been the driving force of this book. And what Johns wants

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1122308852156737672005-07-25T12:27:00.000-04:002005-07-25T12:27:32.156-04:00

You have to feel bad for Mark Shaw.Cast aside, supplanted during a previous DC Gets Edgy! phase, and left leaving a lonely existence out in Las Vegas, Shaw now has to worry about the sudden murders of both a predecessor and a successor to the Manhunter title.He has even more to be concerned about because it looks like he did it and DEO Cameron Chase is in hot pursuit.read the rest here

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1122308597078329042005-07-25T12:23:00.000-04:002005-07-25T12:23:17.086-04:00

Apparently, the Random Generator was working overtime in the BatOffices this month. Not being a huge devotee of Gotham Knights, I didn't have either the energy or the inclination to go back and re-read the issues with Hush kidnapping Alfred and the whole Is-It-Or-Isn't-It-Tommy Elliott thing, which in hindsight I'm not even sure I read all of when it came out. I'm fairly certain that it doesn't

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1122305322015307312005-07-25T11:28:00.000-04:002005-07-25T11:28:42.020-04:00

Did Lobo get a tan?I can't help but be disappointed in this issue, coming as it does after last month's sharp story. The last issue was complex and richly layered and this... was played for yuks. And I'm just not a yuks kinda rodent. Considering that this arc has an actual plot -- Cass's self-discovery as she tries to track down her mother (whom she still thinks is Shiva) -- there's a certain

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1122263310032986092005-07-24T23:48:00.000-04:002005-07-24T23:48:30.036-04:00

The problem with Mark Millar isn't that he spends too much time trying to be Warren Ellis or that he puts out wretched books like The Unfunnies and wonders why we don't fall over ourselves in praise. The problem with Millar is that he comes up with some great storylines and then sabotages them, either from sheer perversity or disinterest. Sometimes, as in the case of Ultimate X-Men, both at once.

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1122173948876573502005-07-23T22:59:00.000-04:002005-07-23T23:01:16.473-04:00

This was quite a bit more fun than it should have been. Especially with the heavy hints of a deus ex machina ending in next issue's season finale. Piotr renders a rambling Kitty speechless, Xavier turns the tables, and Logan gets some good lines and is well-used because he's barely used. And, oh, yeah, we're set up for one heckuva throwdown. I wasn't a big fan of secondary mutations when they

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121832389762704072005-07-20T00:05:00.000-04:002005-07-20T00:06:29.770-04:00

I wasn't sure whether or not to avoid this or not -- I want my Serenity viewing to be pristine. On the other hand, sometimes the prequel books do help out the story when there's too much exposition. The Nightcrawler mini attached to X-Men 2 was great in terms of adding necessary backstory, for instance. As expected, this could have been the first part of a new episode of Firefly and for that, it

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121828118678487492005-07-19T22:54:00.000-04:002005-07-19T22:55:18.683-04:00

I suppose Geoff Johns was the perfect writer for this issue -- not because he's the Continuity Cop, but because who else better to write a story where the JLA looks like idiots? Selina's appearance was pleasant, if extremely random, but I think I lost the ability to like this issue right around the time Wally starts making saucy banter with Star Sapphire. The dialogue during the fight with the

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121824409850203222005-07-19T21:50:00.000-04:002005-07-19T21:53:29.856-04:00

This was another of those issues where something isn't sitting quite right and I can't quite place what it is. Andersen Gabrych's Batman is more his father's son than most; early in his run on Detective Comics, Gabrych had Leslie saying that Bruce should have been a doctor and that was probably a bit of an avatar moment. His Batman isn't as much dark as he is determined; Bruce is hopeful instead

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121723824283255292005-07-18T17:56:00.000-04:002005-07-18T17:57:04.290-04:00

While Smoke reads like a fast-paced thriller that could sell millions as a blockbuster movie, the parts that I seem to enjoy best are the ones that would keep it from ever being made into a film -- at least by the sensitive souls in Hollywood.There are plenty of traditionally perfidious elements: government assassin Morrison's involvement with Jennie Bland, the blonde bombshell reporter; the

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121401373020789682005-07-15T00:20:00.000-04:002005-07-15T00:22:53.030-04:00

The plan was to stage a coup whilst everyone is in San Diego, and to that end, we have been most successful: East Coast Bloggaz.... represent!

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121399147585673902005-07-14T23:44:00.000-04:002005-07-14T23:45:47.593-04:00

I liked The Dark Knight Returns and Batman Year One and was warned off The Dark Knight Strikes Again before I could read it, thus my Frank Miller Batman experience has been largely positive. So I suppose that in my sheltered existence I was a little unprepared for this... tripe.There's not much in the way of redeeming features here. Maybe the Jim Lee cheesecake art (which rates lower than it used

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121270126720442542005-07-13T11:32:00.000-04:002005-07-13T11:55:26.726-04:00

The Shrew contributed to the inaugural Buzzscope monthly roundtable discussion Industry Buzz. It was orchestrated by Guy Le Charles Gonzalez, who makes a habit of trying to herd cats. And while it covered areas not normally within the Shrew's purview, who is she to give up an opportunity to yap to an audience? Or gripe about Chuck Austen?

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121268266852007852005-07-13T11:19:00.000-04:002005-07-13T11:24:26.860-04:00

I've been waiting for a few days to see if I could come up with a coherent and informative response to Return of Donna Troy #2. I had held off commenting on Outsiders #25 because it was supposed to tie directly in to RoDT #2, but now that I've read both I can firmly say that I shouldn't have bothered. Either waiting or reading RoDT #2.Outsiders featured the finale of the Insiders crossover with

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121196837480171802005-07-12T15:32:00.000-04:002005-07-12T15:33:57.490-04:00

Batgirl has quietly become one of the most enjoyable Batbooks around.Andersen Gabrych has subtly and patiently constructing a Cass Cain who is a product of her past but not a slave to it, unlike certain other pointy-eared Gotham types. I was initially very skeptical of the move from Gotham to Bludhaven, but in hindsight it was completely obviously necessary (unlike over in Robin) as it has

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121102306828991682005-07-11T13:15:00.000-04:002005-07-11T13:18:26.836-04:00

Memo to Catman and Deadshot: get a room.This issue was all about fun with torture and the results thereof. We found out why most of the Six are working for Mockingbird (Parademon slept through the group confession and Scandal was otherwise occupied) and got a lot of theories about the psychology of witnessing torture. And Catman got everyone out of trouble by knowing entirely too much for a

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121100424029521592005-07-11T12:44:00.000-04:002005-07-11T12:47:04.030-04:00

Ed Brubaker's swan song with DC begins with this arc, a "red ball" (i.e., both shifts called in and everyone working on the case) co-written with Greg Rucka and featuring a devilish plot allegedly contrived during an interview. Despite the random provenance and status as a high profile case that in lesser hands would feel like a blatant sell-out to appeal to a broader audience, this is a story

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1121100182242526362005-07-11T12:42:00.000-04:002005-07-11T12:43:02.250-04:00

On the one hand, this was a rollicking good space adventure -- the best parts of Warren Ellis's run on Ultimate Fantastic Four, except with grown-ups instead of precocious teens, and a fair bit of Firefly. On the other, while this was a great story that will read exceptionally well as a single unit, it loses quite a bit broken down into six parts as a mini. This should have been released as one

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1120966394623341892005-07-09T23:27:00.000-04:002005-07-09T23:33:14.630-04:00

This was the first issue that showed a few flaws, although they were the sorts of flaws that the next issue can clear up quickly. And even flawed, this was another standout issue in a standout series. Lex's plan to replace Superman with Man goes forth... but where is Superman? We get an appearance by Clark Kent, but I'd have liked an explanation for why Supes isn't around to do any of the things

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1120964153929784732005-07-09T22:54:00.000-04:002005-07-09T22:55:53.930-04:00

The only reason I'm still looking at this is because of Simone Bianchi's gorgeous art. Sadly, I've pretty much lost all interest in the story (as I have with the Seven Soldiers project as a whole) and skimmed the words, skipping the too-long expository parts entirely. There's absolutely nothing original going on here plotwise -- our time-tossed hero is doing his best Kyle Reese imitation, the

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1120963969485857942005-07-09T22:47:00.000-04:002005-07-09T22:52:49.493-04:00

So this is the start of JM Straczynski's run. I'm... not quite sure what I think. I know the first issues of anyone's run are a bit of a feeling-out period, an establishment of the house rules, but I can't say I warmed to this version. There were elements of the first issue that were quite nice and elements that were so very, very JMS and some that I just sort of shrugged and moved past. The

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1120621078712772362005-07-05T23:37:00.000-04:002005-07-05T23:37:58.723-04:00

I'm having a very mixed reaction to this story arc. On the one hand, Family Reunion has been such a rollicking good time, so energetic, so caustic, so snarky, so much fun that I find myself wondering where the heck this Judd Winick has been for the last three years and who was the preachy, self-absorbed shlub handing in scripts with Winick's name on them. Folks who lived through my Turbo Nuclear

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1120617639029806272005-07-05T22:39:00.000-04:002005-07-05T22:40:39.036-04:00

For the record, my eyes crossed the minute Captain Mary Sue started groping Hal. They stayed crossed once Captain Mary Sue announced with wonder that the green part of Hal's uniform generates heat while the black part performs other functions. (Memo to Geoff Johns: Just because you've been wanting to write Green Lantern since you were thirteen doesn't mean you should stick with the ideas you came

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1120046403634284832005-06-29T07:59:00.000-04:002005-06-29T08:00:03.650-04:00

Considering that the point of this issue was to prolong the whole "Is it or isn't it Bucky?" question, this was a lot more fun than any time-waster should have been. It leaves the reader with more questions than they started the issue with and that's all one can ask for under the circumstances.(For the record, I've been in the "it ain't Bucky" camp since #6 came out.)Eyewitnesses are unreliable,

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1119848743670701752005-06-27T01:05:00.000-04:002005-06-27T01:06:38.673-04:00

Mark Waid warned us that things wouldn't be quite what we're used to. It's our fault for not taking him at his word, all the more so because this version of the Legion of Superheroes has been all about sleight of hand and Waid has proven exceptionally deft at this shell game.This issue has Waid running a few tricks at once. First there is the one involving the official story arc and its

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1119763650474806542005-06-26T01:25:00.000-04:002005-06-26T01:27:30.480-04:00

You can't really go wrong with Mike Carey and Jae Lee as the fill-in team between Warren Ellis and Mark Millar. This is a sea change from Ellis's run in tone and tempo, even as it follows plot-wise. The characters speak with different voices, albeit recognizable ones. Ellis is a pseudo-science, technobabble kind of guy, but Carey takes a more traditional route, especially considering his taste

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1119760377338492252005-06-26T00:32:00.000-04:002005-06-26T00:32:57.343-04:00

The middle of a giant tuchus-kicking brawl seems like an odd place to do expository work on Wonder Girl, but, hey, Geoff Johns is Continuity Cop now (yes, we do appreciate the irony). So right before she administers electroshock therapy to her boyfriend is as good a time as any to announce that Cassie's not a girl, but not yet a woman. In all seriousness, Cassie did carry her weight in the issue

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1119758861455323472005-06-26T00:06:00.000-04:002005-06-26T00:07:41.460-04:00

The best issue of the arc thus far. And not just because Helena finally has her midriff covered again.Gail Simone's seasoning the Dinah-Ted dialogue with a much lighter hand when it comes to the "I remember you in diapers"/"Uncle Ted's favorite niece" routine and the result is something a lot closer to a partnership instead of a family business. Which is good, under the circumstances, because

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1119749136089356662005-06-25T21:24:00.000-04:002005-06-25T21:25:36.096-04:00

Last issue, I griped long and hard about how Palmiotti & Gray couldn't expect us to believe Kendra was dead because they'd just spent all that time extolling the restorative virtues of Nth metal. Which she was wearing. Which Carter was also wearing at the time he got mauled by the manhawks this issue. And so I'm not taking any bets as to what's in that coffin everyone is pouting over, although I

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1119279054442116332005-06-20T10:46:00.000-04:002005-06-20T10:50:54.450-04:00

This was fun.I'm still highly skeptical about the whole Pete Ross as Ruin thing, but at least Greg Rucka is keeping things off-kilter by leaving it open as to whether Ross is really in control... and whether that ultimately matters. Ross has knowledge and, whether as master or servant, he has the power to do Clark Kent serious damage and is thus a genuine threat. Finding genuine threats for

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1119273515155298472005-06-20T09:18:00.000-04:002005-06-20T09:18:35.163-04:00

Mark Andreyko continues to produce the most compelling female-driven comic book at DC. The question is whether enough people will realize this before the title gets canceled. Manhunter's sales numbers are on par with most Vertigo titles, but it does not have the advantage of either speedy collection in trade paperback format -- the TPB collecting the first six issues won't be out until the fall -

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1119244274466412212005-06-20T01:10:00.000-04:002005-06-20T01:11:14.473-04:00

Adapting non-narrative material to a narrative form is a risky proposition, video games especially. From Tron and Super Mario Brothers to Final Fantasy and Alone in the Dark, there is a long and inglorious history of writers trying to turn games -- even games with a "plot" -- into an actual, interesting story. Even the ones that do succeed, say Tomb Raider (for small values of "success"), don't

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1119216317438494932005-06-19T17:15:00.000-04:002005-06-19T17:27:13.456-04:00

The Shrew and her faithful sidekick saw Batman Begins on Friday night, opting for IMAX. Sadly, Our Heroes did not arrive early enough to avoid sitting in the fourth row, which meant a neck crick and the action sequences getting blurred with the poor angle of perspective. Nonetheless, a splendid movie. Bale, Neeson, Oldman, Murphy, and Caine were superb and even the Thetan-in-Training Holmes

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1118939642180810102005-06-16T12:33:00.000-04:002005-06-16T12:37:57.576-04:00

On the one hand, this was probably the most accessible issue of JLA in a while. On the other hand, it was so accessible because we've all been clouted about the head with the details of Identity Crisis for so long, we can recite them in our sleep. DC has unofficially named Geoff Johns ubermensch for all things Infinite Crisis related and it's just as well -- most of the characters appearing in

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057687.post-1118896628839953122005-06-16T00:36:00.000-04:002005-06-16T00:37:08.846-04:00

Stepping belatedly into the Rann-Thanagar War....Of the four Path to Infinite Crisis miniseries, Rann-Thanagar War is the most geared toward the dedicated (as opposed to the casual) fan. More people may be able to identify Hawkman than Detective Chimp or Catman or Sasha Bordeaux, but this story requires more canon knowledge than OMAC Project, Day of Vengeance, or Villains United combined. Instead

The Comics Shrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16065638618027103612noreply@blogger.com1