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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 29, 2020 16:24:09 GMT -5
Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey #2Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor Normally, I don't think I would have minded getting comics so late because of a quarantine. The regular books I'm getting - Detective, Batgirl, Wonder Woman - are not so great right now, and it would have been so easy to just shrug my shoulders and forget comics for a few months. And get the issues I missed (maybe) when things get back to normal. But I'm loving the Gwen Stacy mini-series (although I could totally do without Norman Osborne having any connection to Gwen Stacy), and I'm really loving the high quality comic Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey. The second issue came out Wednesday. It's the same line-up as the movie but it's not the same storyline as the movie. (I liked the movie because it got so much right … but it was still kind of stupid. They get Gotham City! Margot Robbie is great as Harley! The Huntress was cool.) Harley needs money and she knows where there's a huge stash of loot. But Renee Montoya doesn't want her in Gotham City. Two of the Birds of Prey - Black Canary and Huntress - are sort of helping because reasons. And Cass Cain is there too because … she's in the movie and had to be included. So yeah, the plotting is all fairly arbitrary. The art is great! I love the dialogue! The prestige format makes it all look gorgeous! A large chunk of #2 takes place in a diner where Renee and Harley are negotiating, Dinah and Helena are offering moral support and Cass is enjoying her lunch and drinking a soda. I found it hilarious. And then some stuff happens and they put their plan in place and the Joker defends his loot and Harley gets some help from a girl who lives in an underground civilization and controls rocks and stuff. Meanwhile in Arkham, a bunch of the Batman Rogues Gallery start planning a big breakout because Harley is a threat! I love it! It very much reminds me of an early DC Silver Age story, only expanded to four issues instead of being crammed into 13 pages. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 29, 2020 18:06:12 GMT -5
Mystery In Space #75 (Facsimile)By Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson I also got this! I didn't get to the comic book store for a few days. Saturday, I think. They had sold out of Batgirl. So I picked up the facsimile edition of Mystery In Space #75 just to have something else to read. I've read so few Adam Strange adventures. But I've read this one! If I had seen that text at the bottom about the JLA, I wouldn't have bought it. Still, it's OK to have another easily accessible version of this. Nice art. Kanjar Ro is such a kook! I especially love seeing his fellow prisoners on the planetoid - Kromm, Sayyar and Hyathis. I'm under these impression these crazy nuts didn't appear too much, but I am familiar with their first run-in with the JLA. If I was writing a DC comic, I would bring them back, fighting a multi-sided war with Zazzala the Queen Bee! I read part of it last night before I was too sleepy. I'm looking forward to finishing it tonight!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2020 19:21:48 GMT -5
I hope that Harley & BOP gets an OHC release to go with the omnis of their Harley run. I didn't really get into the Harley Quinn character until her series on DCU, and now I can't get enough of her (without Joker).
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jun 29, 2020 19:45:49 GMT -5
Marvel Snapshots: Captain AmericaWritten by Mark Russell Art by Ramon Perez Summary: Spinning out of Jack Kirby's Madbomb story from Cap #193-200 we see the human side from Felix Waterhouse POV.
Plot: If you're a fan of Russel's ability to infuse current events, social commentary and political allegory into a standard superhero comic like I am then you're going to love this, though if you're not a fan of his point of view I can definitely see where your mileage would vary. Like I said though, I'm definitely a fan of his particular narrative formulae so this crazily well timed book looking at the disenfranchisement of Black community was more than worth the cost of admission. It's a powerful story all around exploring why someone might fall in with the wrong crowd despite having the best intentions, and the character moments between Felix and his father were just so perfect. That said, despite springing from an excellent Cap story written and illustrated by Jack Kirby there is a distinct lack of Cap in this story. I mean, I know that like Marvels this line is meant to focus on the "real world" reactions to heroes in the Marvel Universe but I think the conversation with Cap at the end though well written would have been more powerful if there was a larger insight into Captain America...or for that matter perhaps it would have been even greater if it were with the Falcon instead. I imagine it has to do with Cap selling more issues than Falcon, but still thematically it would have been a much better fit.
Art: I wasn't really sold on Perez's style at the top of the issue, his stylized art and slightly distorted faces just didn't sell the action of retelling Kirby's story but as the book progressed and got smaller his look fit incredibly well with the story. The scenes with Felix and his family were so well done, and so utterly relatable that you just wanted to linger there.
Grade:9/10 I really enjoyed the two Snapshots I've read thus far - Namor and the Human Torch - but I somehow missed this in the confusion of the COVID reality. If my comic shop still has it, I'll pick up Snapshots: Captain America next time I'm at the shop. My first issue of Captain America was #191, so Kirby's return was my third issue! I was rather underwhelmed. I bought it, but distribution was kind of spotty and I missed a few issues of the Madbomb story arc. I liked the Kirby issues much better a little later on with the Tiger and the Swine, Arnim Zola and the return of the Red Skull! Two or three years ago, I was finally able to read the entire Madbomb series from start to finish … and I like it a hell of a lot better now than I did then! (Which happens to me a lot with 1970s Kirby Marvel.) I'm really looking forward to reading Snapshots: Captain America! Yeah, Kirby's cap run was a lot of fun. |
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Post by Ozymandias on Mar 12, 2021 13:40:10 GMT -5
Immortal Hulk #34Written by Al Ewing Art by Butch Guice Summary: The Leader reflects on his history of failures and makes a new ally beyond the Green Door.
Plot: Unfortunately, for Immortal Hulk the song really does remain the same; there have been some stunning highs, some great concepts and fantastic character moments...but there have also been some lows with too much of a focus on pointless punch em' up scenes and filler...and with this issue it's sadly more of the latter than the former. That summery above? Spoiler alert: that really all that happens in this issue. It's a series of vignettes from the Leader's history narrated by his journal entries...and they give us no real deeper understanding of the Leader, do nothing to expose the mystery of the Green Door or advance the plot. It's just filler, plain and simple.
Art: I'm kind of glad we had a guest artist here as with this hopeless wheel spinning plot Bennett's art would have been utterly wasted. That said, the alternative wasn't much better, it's not that Guice was bad per say, his art was serviceable and clearly portrayed what was in the narrative but it lacked a sense of style. If they were going to make this trip down memory lane with the Leader they needed an artist who could have mimicked the styles of the artists who originally drew the stories the leader was remembering. It still would have been filler, don't get me wrong, but if they had done that it at least would have been fun to look at.
Grade:5/10
As with 25, I see this issue as another stepping stone for the whole story.
Best Leader story ever. |
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