Pellet Comic Reviews for December 2

or, "The Uncanny Luthor of Oz"

So this week, I hope to start reviewing my comics on this blog instead of clogging my twitter feed with 140 character reviews of the books I read each week. I intend to have short reviews to give you a sense of what I feel about my weekly haul of books.

I'm playing catch up right now, I'm a week behind. I should be able to swing the rest of my stack tomorrow or saturday. This was an odd week. A small-ish haul, made up mostly of limited series or things I'm thinking of dropping. Without further ado... COMICS

Action Comics Annual (2010) #13 - Paul Cornell's reinvention/redefinition of Lex Luthor continues in this solid annual. We're given Luthor's first encounters with two of DC's other iconic villains: Darkseid and Ra's Al Ghul. The Darkseid story is a solid effort, Darkseid having some fantastic lines, and has some fantastic layout work from Marco Rudy. That said, Rudy's line art was a little shaky, some characters were hard to follow through the story. Some of that was also the fault of the colorist, at times its hard to discern the difference between Perry White and the head of Intergang. The Ra's story is told in the style of a legend/fairytale and its coupled with some of the most mature Ed Benes art I've seen. It's nice take on the relationship between the two, while having a very nice style. Both stories are great editions to Cornell's overall Luthor mythos. 4/5

Adventure Comics #521 - This isn't a book I generally pick up, but I thought the premise of rebuilding the Green Lantern Corps. in the future of the Legion of Super-Heroes might be fun. While I didn't enjoy the issue - it seemed focused on character work I wasn't look for base don the cover - I thought it was decent and the reveal at the end could be interesting. I just wasn't sold on this series. 2/5

Astonishing Thor #1 - This was another book I picked up on a lark. I wasn't particularly drawn to it, but I had heard a few good things scattered across the Internet. Mike Choi's art is pretty solid across the issue, though some faces look odd at times. The story is fairly weak, with some clunky dialogue. I admit, the last time I read a Rob Rodi script was 10 years ago in Codename: Knockout, but I remembered liking it. Nothing here was working for me, sadly. 2/5

Brightest Day #15 - Now that we're past the midway point of this series, I had expected to see some threads coming together. Instead, we're treated to a 20-page long alternate timeline in the Martian Manhunter's mind. It's not a bad one, and there are some insightful characterizations but the issue just felt flat and like so much padding to get the story to 26 issues. Clark and Gleason worked really well together here, so it's not all bad! 3/5

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #39 - I really just don't know what to say about this book at this point. It felt like a jumble of gobbeldy-guck to get to the end of the story. The book just doesn't have the luster it did 2 years ago when it all started. Count me out for Buffy Season 9. 1/5

Freedom Fighters #4 - This is a writing team I've loved, and whose previous work with these characters was fantastic. But this latest effort just lacks the energy of previous installments. I can't even place why I'm not liking this issue. I just don't feel anything for this book. Sadly, I'll be departing the book with this issue. I still love this issue's fantastic minimalist cover. 2/5

Generation Hope #2 - I was a little leery after last issue, but liked it well enough to continue. This issue really doesn't move us too forward in terms of plot, however there are some great moments of characterization for the "Lights." That said, I found this issue to be a little wanting. It was certainly better than run of the mill, but a step down from the first issue. As a sidenote, I picked up the wonderful Women of Marvel variant cover for this issue, featuring Hope Summers. 3.5/5

Sweet Tooth #16 - Sweet Tooth is a book that I have loved since issue 1. It's also one of those books that it becomes tiring to talk about because it's so good. I had been a little down on the book of late, not because it was getting bad but because I just felt a little distant. Lemire is doing fantastic things with this book. There were some great layouts and art choices this issue. As well, I got a sense of forward momentum from the plot which really energized the book for me. A great read. 4/5

Vertigo Resurrected: Winter's Edge - The second in a collection of Vertigo shorts and lost stories. I was really intrigued by the first special which presented a mixed collection of stories vaguely premised on being gun/war based stories. This special recollects the three Winter's Edge one-shots released in the late 90s. They present stories featuring Vertigo mainstays with a winter theme. Most of them, for obvious reasons, deal with death (and Death) and present some great morality tales therein. However, there are two stories that deal with Desire that sparks the idea that the Solstice was the celebration of the Unconquerable Sun, when spring and life come back to the world. A fantastic read, though I would say I found a few more misses that hits in this collection as opposed to the first. It still presents some of the best material around and is worth picking up. 5/5

And my Pick of the Week for December 2, 2010:


Ozma of Oz #2 - I've loved the previous Oz collaborations between Eric Shanower and Skottie Young. Shanower does a great job of working Baum's stories into a comic format, but Young's pencils shine as you can see in his design for the Wheelers to the right. I've loved Ozma of Oz ever since I saw Disney's Return to Oz which combines some minor plot points from Marvelous Land of Oz with the overall story of Ozma. This issue brings us fully into the story I'm used to. Dorthory has woken up on the distant shore of a fairy land. With her talking hen, Billina, she begins to investigate the area whilst avoiding the Wheelers and she stumbles upon Tik-Tok the Clockwork Man. Tik-Tok is my favorite Oz character and Young's redesign of him is fantastic! He has a copper mustache and he has three seperate keyholes to wind his thinking, speaking and "action" independent of each other! The comic takes us through his origin and we start to move deeper into the land of Ev. Fantastic things are being done in this book and I'm glad to be supporting it. I love handing these things off to my nieces and nephews. 5/5

Secret Origins: 1986-1990

or, "My own personal radioactive spider bite."

I was born in the late 80s. February 2, 1986 to be exact. It was an interesting time. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was in reruns, The Transformers were in their prime and G.I. Joe: The Movie was right around the corner. It's important to remember that these are three of the most infamous "Toys first" series. For those that don't know, action figures existed for all three franchises before there was linking material, either comics or a cartoon. It was conceived of as a good way to market toys to children, build a series around a set of interesting looking figures. And from what I know it worked. A trip down my basement today would reveal a big 20 gallon tub full of He-Man toys. Many of my Transformers took a trip to the yard sale, including an original die-cast Optimus Prime. (Extremely valuable if you had all the accessories, but, of course, I had lost all but the largest piece: Optimus himself.) I had a lot of G.I. Joes, but they were often lost "scuba diving" in the sump pump in the basement when I was 4. These were three very important shows for children of my era, we may have been a bit older than much of the first run shows, but all three series were successful. As a matter of fact He-Man was briefly on two channels, though I mostly remember it being on USA.

However, the most important cartoon of my childhood was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles it followed me as I grew, premiering two months shy of my second birthday and running till about 1995. TMNT figures, the liar, the Turtle-Van all can be found on shelves in my basement. The Technodrome is, admittedly, a little mildew-y. Turtles sort of defined my generation. My cousin, Harry demanded the He-Man Castle Grey Skull playset to just a year before I was born to be the ring bearer at my aunt's wedding. When it was Christmas and I was three, only one thing ruled my mind: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES -- HEROES ON A HALF SHELL. TURTLE POWER! And ask most kids, even some girls, around my age and you'll find Turtle fans.

It seems that even before I could be exposed to anything else I had these four cartoons vying for my attention. I was a loyal TMNT fan, but there was something about Prince Adam, Cringer (Err... that is, He-Man and Battlecat!), Orko and Man-at-Arms that drew me in. Drew me in enough that at three or four I pretty much figured out that the show switched to another network. A cable network at that. Big doings in '89 and '90.

But then I discovered something waiting in the wings after He-Man finished it's two episode a day rotation on USA (usually after really creepy public service announcements with Orko telling you to tell an adult if someone touches your "private spots.") I can't say for certain, but this is probably something like the first image I saw of this following show:
Yes. That's right, chum. Batman. Adam West and Burt Ward quickly became my new action heroes. The campy 1960s series had found a home on USA. (Unfortunately fans such as myself, the rights to this series are very, very screwed up and it will probably never see DVD.) There's not much I can say about this series. If you've seen it you know all about. The Bat-Computer. The Bat-Microphone (both of which can be seen above; Missing are the Bat-Beaker and Bat-Thermometer. No, for real). And of course the Shark Repellent Bat-Spray.
(And the best joke ever, from the tie-in movie. "It happened at sea. Sea for Catwoman!" Thanks for playing, Boy Wonder, you get this... WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT WAS AN ACTUAL CLUE?)

Perhaps the most "disturbing episode" of Batman was when Robin was turned to the "darkside" by the terrible team-up of The Riddler and Catwoman. They employed the bizzarely sexy Pinky (one of Catwoman's cat-themed henchmen, except with a pink costume) with her extra long, red pinky nail to scratch Robin with an evil poison that made him turn on Batman. Only... Robin was acting the whole time! Huzzah!

But the cliffhanger that gave me nightmares for a week (ensuring I did tune in Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel) was when Robin gets devoured by a giant clam! I still think this might be why I don't eat seafood.
You can see the stunning "reveal" of that cliffhanger in this clip:



But the final nail in the "geek for life" coffin I was falling into was comic books. My mother owned a dancing school when I was little. She would have to bring me to the school after pre-school and such. Normally we'd walk over to the Pharmacy on the corner and I'd pick out a coloring book. But that's about all I did. Then one day, I ran out of coloring books to choose from in the drug store. I was three at the time, so my mother sought out something else to occupy my time. She took me across the street to a newsstand, and upon walking in I saw them. Their dark, pre-90s chrome and pre-13 variant cover, covers amazed me. Here was an issue with the Batman fighting the Joker. Here was one with Robin on his own. Here was one with a colorful cast of misfits called the X-Men, though I wouldn't pick that one up till later. More or less my mother bought me the superheroes she knew: Superman & Batman. I was never the biggest Superman fan, but, any port in a storm.

While I wasn't the best reader, I could imagine dialog to go with the panels. Sometimes I made my own stories, sometimes I struggled through the ones that were there. But I loved every minute of them! I didn't really keep my comics at that age, and it's a shame. Really until 1992, I read mostly Batman comics with he occasional Superman. Or maybe there was a colorful DC book out that week and picked it up. I don't recall much about the content of the stories around this time, just that Batman won.

But that was it. Cartoons and comics got me started on the path. The interesting thing is that I more or less became a better reader because of comics. So much for the "They rot your mind" argument. Rot this!

While there are far more influences that I was aware of at the time, looking back 18 to 20 years later, I don't feel the impact. A show like Thundercats is considered a big cult hit, I can tell you I've probably seen about 1 episode.