In lieu of a review of Final Crisis #7, I'm just going to share a few thoughts I had while reading it (spoilerz of course!):
Huh?
What the fuck?
Man, I don't think I get any of this.
*Yawn*
Who cares?
Oh wait, I think it's making sense.
Nope. It's not
Ohhhh....it's a Final Crisis...but for the Monitors!
Huh? (in reference to the last page of the epilogue)
Look- bottom line is I feel like people either loved Final Crisis or they didn't. I'm not sure which category I'm in. I'm not as quick to judge something like this on first reading as I feel like it at least deserves a second look as a whole (instead of waiting a month or sometimes more in between chapters). The only problem with that is there are way too many great comics out there that are going on right now that I get and understand right away, so it's really hard to say when I will have the time to revisit Final Crisis. I think for someone like me this might be it's biggest letdown. The fact that I really want to "get" the grand scheme of what happened here but I just don't feel like I have the time right now.
CBR columnist Timothy Callahan actually wrote a nice concise article that helped me to somewhat understand the overall themes of what Final Crisis is all about. You can read the article here. Full disclosure: Mr. Callahan does have a book out called Grant Morrison: The Early Years. He's what the haters call a 'GM Fanboy', so keep that in mind.
Have we talked about Battlefields: The Night Witches yet? No? All right, let's talk about it.
This is a wonderful three part World War II story written by Garth Ennis with art by Russ Braun. Published by Dynamite. The last issue just came out this week.
Ennis writes a lot of war stories. Some of them are good. Some of them are better than good. And a few are kind of meh. I just finished the third and final chapter of his latest and it's not only one of the best war stories of his I've read, it's one of his best stories in recent memory.
It's the Soviets vs the Nazis. This story is told from both perspectives. The Russian side follows the fighter pilots, specifically centered around The Night Witches- women pilots who fly their missions under the cover of darkness and who also don't get much respect from their male counterparts. On the German side you follow a regiment made up of the obligatory scum of the Earth type we've come to expect in these types of situations- except this particular unit is interesting since it includes a solider who is far more inclined to follow his own moral compass than he is at taking the horrific orders he's given by his head of command.
In three short installments, Ennis and Braun craft quite the captivating narrative. It's rich with history, violence, some interesting twists that you might not see coming and even brief glimpses of a love story. The idea of these "Night Witches" was so fascinating that one might think that ol' Garth had come up with a great fictionalized World War II story that seemed almost like it could have really happened. As it turns out, it's firmly grounded in facts. You can read more about The Night Witches here.
And as luck would have it, Battlefields continues on with a new story coming in a few weeks. If you haven't read this first one go and check it out. And be on the lookout for Battlefields: Dear Billy at your comic shop in the near future.
(WARNING: If you don't want pretty much this entire issue to be spoiled for you, read the comic before you read this post.)
Wow. If I had to sit through the schlock that was Secret Invasion just to get to Dark Avengers #1 than that was a small price to pay.
I like Brian Michael Bendis, I do. But he's hot and cold with me. I either think it's really good or not good at all. I think his strengths are also his weaknesses. But when BMB is on he's really fucking on and no one can touch him.
Here- he's really fucking on.
Dark Avengers #1 deals with the aftermath of Secret Invasion. Tony Stark is no longer in power as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers, replaced by Norman Osborn. S.H.I.E.L.D. is quickly dismantled in favor of H.A.M.M.E.R. Now all that's left for Norman to figure out is who should make up the new Avengers team.
Here's the new cast:
Ares (played by Ares) Sentry (played by Sentry) Ms. Marvel (played by Moonstone after Carol Danvers rejects Norman's offer) Hawkeye (played by Bullseye!) Wolverine (played by Daken- Logan's pissed off son!) Symbiotic Spider-Man (played by Venom!) Captain Marvel (played by Noh-Varr) and The Iron Patriot (played by Norman Osborn himself)
It was a real joy to read through this issue and see how each encounter between Norman and his team picks plays out. I'm especially excited to see Daken here. I was reading Wolverine Origins for a while and I really felt like he could be an epic character in the right hands.
I kept hearing how Bendis had ideas for Secret Invasion a long time ago and his whole time working on the Avengers titles was building up to that point. I would like to think that Dark Reign will be his true masterpiece, but he just had to set the groundwork with Secret Invasion. I guess I might be raving a little too much for only having read one issue, but this one issue is just that good.
All in all I think this is a genius idea by Bendis and I hope he keeps bringing the awesome. I had a lot of fun reading this all the way through and when it was over I immediately wanted more. That's always a good sign.
P.S. - Mike Deodato REALLY wants Tommy Lee Jones to play Osborn in some kind of superhero movie:
(Please note: This is NOT the official cover to No Hero #3. I wasn't able to find a nice sized image of it and damn it, I needed to put something up there so you can see the pretty art)
Holy hell, I think No Hero is officially my favorite comic from the last 3 - 5 years.
When we last left The Front Line Joshua had just been given FX7, the super human drug, and locked in a room by Carrick Masterson to let it run it's initial 12 hour course. The last page of issue #2 really only offered a glimpse of the horror that he had in store. Aside from the first page of #3 which has a quick glimpse of an interview with an individual comparing the practices of Carrick Masterson to Aleister Crowley, the next 8 pages are void of any dialogue. Instead we get four separate splash pages that take us along for the ride on the FX7 journey. Despite being only two comic book weeks into 2009, it equates to probably the most awe inspiring and bizarre art you will see this year. Juan Jose Ryp's pencils continue to be detailed, imaginative and disturbing.
What else happens this ish? Another key member of The Front Line bites it, Carrick tells the rest of the team a story of what happened in Chechnya when they discovered something called Disgel that can eliminate super humans with ease by essentially dissolving human tissue and they widdle down the cause of the attacks on the team to either the Russians, the Chinese, the Russians AND the Chinese or every single person they have pissed off since their inception in the 1960's. Oh- and Joshua wakes up from his post-FX7 operation and discovers his skin is falling off and his vomiting hasn't subsided.
This issue went by very fast but the story is still moving along quite nicely. Seriously guys, I can't talk this one up enough. It gives me that tingle in my stomach that I haven't felt while reading comics since I was a kid. If you are for some reason resisting picking this series up, then you really need to reevaluate why you even read comic books in the first place.
Like a lot of other faithful Batman readers, I've been back and forth on how I feel about the Batman R.I.P. storyline. Mostly I've disliked it. Mostly I've disliked Grant Morrison's entire run. I feel like it's been rushed and disconnected and a little confusing (I know, I know...Grant and confusing usually go hand in hand). However, Batman #681 ends the R.I.P. arc and I actually feel like it has redeemed not only the last few issues but maybe everything I didn't like since Morrison hopped on board.
Most anyone who truly cares has either read the issue already or read the spoilers that are out and about out there. The biggest "reveal" is Doctor Hurt claims to be Thomas Wayne and that he hired Joe Chill to kill Bruce and his mother. Chill loses his nerve when it comes to killing a kid and leaves Bruce alive. Thomas Wayne fakes his death and changes identities. Bruce doesn't buy this and neither do I, but it's an excellent plot element.
The issue ends with Batman attacking the helicoptor that Hurt is using to getaway and the whole thing crashing into a fiery mess into the Gotham river. There's a nice full page of Nightwing holding the cowl in his hand with the flames in the background. Things fast forward to six months later and aside from a few rumors floating about, Batman hasn't been seen since the helicoptor crash. Le Bossu is torturing a Gotham City police officer discussing this with some thugs when they are suddenly flooded with light from the Bat-Signal.
There's a lot of hate out there on the message boards for Batman R.I.P. and that's completely understandable. Grant set out to shake things up in the Batman universe and mission accomplished. People are pissed about the Thomas Wayne thing and I will be as well if it holds to be true, but I really don't think it will. Either way, I'm really looking forward to the next few arcs of my favorite comic character. I think what Grant has done is exactly what was needed to freshen things up. It should prove to be very interesting.
I've been a big fan of Alex Ross, the artist, pretty much from the beginning. Who hasn't, right?
Alex Ross, the writer? That's been a little more hit and miss.
That's why reading this was so much fun. Not once did I cringe or roll my eyes or yell out "Come the fuck on!" The script was top notch from beginning to end.
However, that cover is a total bait and switch. There is no big throw down between the Superman's in this issue. Kingdom Come Superman accidentally punches Earth-1 Superman, but that's all you get.
The story: Kingdom Come Superman is still trying to figure out what's going on with his recent arrival on Earth-1. With the appearance of Magog and Gog he's starting to get really worried that the fate of his world is going to be repeated. So it finally dawns on him to track down this Earth's version of Norman McCay to see if he has the same warnings of the Apocalypse for him as he did before. Norman doesn't have much to say to Superman other than typical advice a reverend would give to a troubled soul. It will be interesting to see if Norman McCay shows up again before this is all done.
I was a little nervous when I saw that they would be bringing Kingdom Come characters and plot elements into current continuity, but in the hands of Geoff Johns and Alex Ross it's been superb so far. This special fills in some of the blanks, as KC Superman explains to Earth-1 Lois how she died on his world and you get a great flashback of the moment.
I have to agree with Dave at Secret Headquarters. The other day he said something to the effect of "With Warren Ellis, I either like it or I really like it". No Hero is on issue #2 and so far, by all accounts, this falls into the "really like" column.
The world has one superhero team, The Front Line, created and hand selected by a gent named Carrick Masterson. Carrick created the synthetic drug FX7, which is the only known supplement which will give a regular person superpowers (although it appears the American government has tried several times with less than desirable results).
Anyways- The Front Line has recently been mysteriously and maliciously ambushed taking two of their members out of commission. Desperate to fill the ranks to fend off any more direct attempts at taking another piece of the team, Carrick has whisked away a young crime fighter by the name of Joshua. Joshua doesn't have any superpowers per se, but he's been diligently taking out bad guys in his neighborhood trying to attract the attention of Carrick and The Front Line. Now he has and at the end of the issue, as Carrick offers Joshua his first taste of FX7, he has to answer the all important question (and The Front Line tag line): How much do you want to be a superhuman?
The last four pages are filled with equal parts disgustingness and intrigue.
Issue #2 of No Hero is still setting up the pieces (presumably so they can all be knocked down again) but as much as I quite enjoy most everything Mr. Ellis does, for whatever reason this series seems to have some extra Awesome thrown in. Juan Jose Ryp's art is mesmerizing as usual. There's really no reason why you shouldn't be reading this right now, is there?
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