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A KC COLUMN by KC Carlson
Recent comics reading seems to be mainly about the comics events that have kidnapped summertime this year — DC Comics’ regeneration effort as well as marvel Comics’ Civil war II. As you may expect, each has their great as well as bad, their ups as well as downs, their Penn as well as Teller… (Sorry… kinda overdosing on comedy magicians this summer. They’re great too, however don’t truly refer to this specific column, in spite of their occasional work in comic books.)
REBIRTH OR REBOOT?
I’m still enjoying lots of of the new DC regeneration titles; however, I’m still totally lost on a lot of of the Superman as well as Batman titles. See, I kinda took that word regeneration to heart, believing that this new relaunch would be about new concepts as well as ideas (or at the extremely least new methods to look at old ideas as well as characters), yet the majority of the Superman- as well as Batman-related titles seem to be bring on in the exact same excessively confusing methods (most of the Superman titles) or sticking truly close to Scott Snyder’s versions of the Batman characters (which isn’t necessarily a poor thing provided the sales for jobs which include his name in the credit scores or on the cover).
SUPERDUPERMAN
Superwoman #1
I can’t even begin to go over the present Superman titles considering that I stopped reading them all around two years back as well as now am hopelessly lost in trying to figure out what’s going on. situation in point, I was truly ecstatic to get Superwoman #1, since Phil Jimenez is one of my preferred present creators (and a great friend), as well as I wished to see what he was going to make with a new #1. Unfortunately, what I got was a well-done summing up of what felt like perhaps lots of previous far-flung storylines as well as character bits featuring circumstances as well as plot lines that I understood absolutely nothing about. however I stuck with it, trusting Phil (and inker Matt Santorelli) to have things under manage by the end of the issue, as well as eventually I wasn’t dissatisfied — mainly since (it seems) this very first problem was all about resolving a great deal of that old stuff (and successfully getting it out of the way) to ensure that Phil can go ahead with telling stories about new (or at least different) characters as well as stories.
It may have been much better to present this story arc in a separate miniseries (or huge special) to ensure that the new condition quo might have been relaunched fully-formed as a #1 that was totally dedicated to moving ahead rather than as the transitional piece it is. however that may be choosing nits: what’s a lot of crucial about this very first problem is that what was going on in it was fascinatingly fascinating — as well as that has propelled me to continue the series going forward. (As opposed to me already dropping other Super-titles.) Which is always the most crucial function of all excellent very first issues.
BATTY-MAN
Batman #1
I don’t especially believe that the Batman titles are poor — I’m just not thinking about reading them (something that’s been going on for over a decade with me, actually), as I am one of the unusual visitors (in a minority, I’m sure) that don’t care for Scott Snyder’s work. I am dissatisfied that Tom King’s Batman work is nothing like his oddball paranoia-on-a-stick composing over on Marvel’s The Vision (which I am immensely enjoying), however then once again exactly how might it be, really?
Batgirl #1
Batgirl (and her associated titles), as written by hope Larson as well as illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque, seems interesting, although attempts to resolve the recent different elements of the character may be as well convoluted to sustain much longer, at least for me. I believe I’d really be a lot more ready to stick around to suss out who this “new” Batgirl is than ever try to pick up what’s going on with the “Legion of Robins” (my snarky nickname for that situation).
SUICIDE AIN’T PAINLESS
Suicide Squad regeneration #1
Jumping from Batgirl to suicide Squad may be a leap for a few of you, however not for me, thinking about that the very first run of suicide Squad (amazingly written by John Ostrander with the late, excellent Kim Yale) was accountable for bringing Barbara “Batgirl” Gordon back into the active DC superhero limelight. (The Ostrander/Yale SS run is currently being collected in a series of TPBs not to be missed!)
I had to laugh out loud when I checked out the suicide Squad regeneration special (written by Rob Williams as well as art by Phillip Tan as well as a number of inkers), since it cribs liberally from the Ostrander origin of the series with an properly stout Amanda Waller satisfying with the present president of the United States. (Obviously Barack Obama, however to guarantee deniability, he is only ever referred to as “Mr. President”.) She is aiming to (once again) safe Colonel Rick Flagg as the leader of a ragtag lot of occupation criminals in doing the “jobs” nobody else would do, in exchange for not being permanently incarcerated.
I applaud the SS mainstays Deadshot as well as Captain Boomerang, paired with other familiar faces including Katana, killer Croc, as well as June Moon/Enchantress, leaping (reluctantly) back into action. Yes, I comprehend why Harley Quinn is there, however is she not one of the most overexposed characters in comics ideal now? (And you understand she’s not one of the ones to eventually get killed off, right? Sigh…) Plus, I’m likewise curious to see what precisely Jim Lee’s occasional continuous function will be in the Squad. (Gosh, I hope he isn’t killed off by problem #6!) This normally isn’t my type of comic book title, however I like that they are acknowledging the past (without being a slave to it), while likewise pushing things ahead in a major way. I’ll be sticking around for awhile this time… So far, so good.
DAN IF I DO as well as DAN IF I DON’T
I keep bumping into Dan Abnett lately. Well, not literally, considering that I truly only ever emerge from my basement office on Wednesdays, as well as I’m quite sure that Dan’s not down right here with me somewhere. (Unless he was somehow flushed in with the recent flooding.) I truly took pleasure in his recent Titans search miniseries, a excellent mix of both standard Titans storytelling in addition to something a lot more modern.
Titans regeneration #1
I had no concept that it was really setting up the new Titans Rebirth series, however I wasn’t dissatisfied to hear that as well as was swept ideal along when that started. I believe that considering that the Wally West Flash character was the focal point of the preliminary DC world regeneration special, that immediately makes this new Titans book doubly crucial — not just for bringing back the traditional Titans line up, however likewise for focusing on Wally’s journey back from being “dead”. (Something that seems to occur a great deal with Flashes in the DCU.) I likewise truly like the Brett Booth/Norm Rapmund/Andrew Dalhouse art team here. great deals of energy on each page!
Aquaman #1
I was likewise truly pleased with Abnett’s handle Aquaman Rebirth, considering that I believe that a character like Aquaman is particularly difficult to get the ideal tone as well as feel for. I’m a significant fan of the Steve Skeates/Jim Aparo age of this character, as well as while not precisely the exact same (thankfully — since much time has passed considering that that series as well as this as well as comic book storytelling has progressed as well as ended up being a lot more advanced at least a time or three considering that then), this new series has a much much better balance between the royal politics of Atlantis as well as the much less-structured life on Earth. politics as well as statesmanship is crucial (not necessarily for comic books), however action, adventure, the lots of as well as different relationships, as well as a touch of humor when needed, make this an satisfying read.
Interestingly, I believe Aquaman takes the very best advantage of the regeneration books’ twice-monthly publication routine by keeping a great deal of spheres (subplots) in the air as well as not losing track of them. There seems to be a number of artists in the early issues, however the routine artist going ahead is Philippe Brionnes in problems 3-5, complying with Scott Eaton as well as Brad walker in earlier issues.
Green Lanterns #1
To a somewhat lower extent, I’m likewise enjoying The Flash, question lady (well, perhaps only the even-numbered origin retelling Year One issues, so far), as well as eco-friendly Arrow (to the degree that I now like it much much better than the stupidly-dark TV show). I’m likewise now truly engaged with both of the GL books (Green Lanterns as well as Hal Jordan as well as the eco-friendly lantern Corps), which I’m shocked about, after growing worn out of all the continuous cosmic soap-opera that the previous series progressed into. Apparently, a great deal occurred in the GL backstory while I was gone, however I’m truly appreciating the “scratching our method back from defeat” high quality of these new series after method as well lots of years of pure “cosmic opera”.
Justice league #1
One new series that is not doing anything for me is Bryan Hitch’s handle Justice League. So far, it’s boring as well as unexciting, with the dialogue particularly stilted. perhaps he’ll get much better with a lot more experience, however Hitch, ideal now as a writer — you are a excellent artist! Plus, the primary reason that these team books exist is to see the heroes battling together. If you keep plotting stories where the heroes fight individually only to find together for the climax, that’s really a extremely overworked cliché — as well as must be avoided as much as possible. as well as yes, I’m extremely familiar with artists who grumble about the number of characters they have to draw in each panel in team books. (I did edit the legion of Super-Heroes for a long stretch… Hey, whatever occurred to them?…) however that’s the gig! as well as it’s likewise why visitors get books like JLA as well as Avengers as well as X-Men as well as LSH! To see the characters interact with each other!
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KC CARLSON SAYS: Yikes! I likewise indicated to talk about some marvel Comics right here today, however got on a DC roll, I guess… perhaps some Marvels next time… up until then, inspect out Civil war II: Ulysses #1 (of 3) by Al Ewing, Karl Kesel, Jefte Palo, as well as Nick Filardi. Yeah, I know… one more of the around 666 CW II crossover books this summer, however this truly snuck up on me.
Civil war II: Ulysses #1
If you don’t already know, Ulysses is the new Inhuman who’s predicting all of these catastrophes around the world that are putting the marvel heroes with their paces this summer. Ulysses is mainly untrained in his abilities, which has triggered some problems, including at least two heroes dead (one indirectly) as well as others injured, so Medusa as well as a number of Inhumans choose that it would be finest if Ulysses be trained to utilize his capabilities better, by none other than Karnak the mystic (?) master of quite much everything, and, as currently being written, the greatest A-hole in the marvel Universe.
Karnak, who when was one of the quietest people in the original marvel Universe, is now, in the ANAD marvel Universe, the most irascible as well as unpleasant person around. (Perhaps he’s upset that his suicide attempt last year was unsuccessful. Yeah, that may describe it…) Anyway… in spite of all this, this comic was one of the funniest comics I’ve checked out this year. (Gee, do you believe that perhaps I can associate to a person like Karnak?)
Apropos of nothing, my preferred Carnac quote was “Sis flourish bah” which, of course, was the response to the concern “Describe the noise made when a sheep explodes.” (click on the link if you are as well young to get the context).
WESTFIELD COMICS is not accountable for the silly things that KC says. particularly that thing that truly irritated you. Heh, heh… Sis flourish bah…