Comics Capsules for July 14

[dvandom]

                    Dave's Unspoilt Capsules and Awards
         The Week's Picks and Pans, plus Awards of Dubious Merit

Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups.  Recommendation does
not factor in price.  Not all books will have arrived in your area this week.
I turn 34 on Sunday, whee.  Rants, Capsules can be found on my 
             homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 

     Go check out http://www.whiterose.org/HowlingCurmudgeons/ when you're
done here. 

Capsules:
     Short, relatively spoiler-free reviews of books I actually bring home
(as opposed to reading in preview form in the shop or online).  If I get a
book late due to distributor foulups or whatever, I'll put it in the Missing
section.

     Captain America #29: Marvel - No volume number.  The issue opens with a
pretty mindless slugfest, which I think was maybe being pushed too hard as a
selling point for the fans wanting a return to "when I was young" Cap.  And I
don't mean how Cap actually used to be, but rather an idealized "fun romp"
sort of thing.  In reality, of course, Cap was quitting due to
disillusionment before I was born, facing villains who were thinly veiled
real world politicians thirty years ago, etc.  And, to that extent, Kirkman
does turn in a "when I was young" Captain America story.  Sure, there's lots
of fighting against supervillains or brightly-dressed minions (said minions
getting some entertaining dialogue), but the main theme is that of abusing
the patriotism of the masses for personal advancement.  Or, more broadly and
including the subplot, abusing the trust people have in what or who they care
for.  *I* liked it, mind you.  But the people online who have been slamming
Priest for making things "too political" or whatnot can no longer point to
Kirkman's run as embodying some mythic purity they seek.  Thank goodness.
Oh, and the Eaton/Geraci art is good, although the coloring is a little murky
at times.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Pulse #4: Marvel - One good thing about being written by Marvel's
"golden boy", it seems that the status quo can indeed be shattered here.  Of
course, the overall plot is just icing.  The core of this issue is the
combination of two scenes.  In one, the relationship between Luke and Jessica
gets some development.  In the other, Ben Urich and Spider-Man have a
looooong overdue talk.  :)  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     She-Hulk #5: Marvel - Paul Pelletier takes over art this issue, which
continues to be a bastion of continuity and interconnectedness during an age
when both seem to be dirty words in the Marvel offices.  Heck, it even opens
with a scene of the New Warriors, and reminisces on events that took place in
the first She-Hulk book (other than Shulkie's origin).  About the only real
flaw in this issue is the inking by Simmons and Hillman, which is a little
wispy at times.  Strongly recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Legion #35: DC - Abnett&Lanning are gone, so I decided to poke my head
in and see what the final pre-restart storyline was like.  The bondage
fantasy cover almost convinced me not to bother...Simone isn't exactly an
author I seek out in the first place.  The art, however, is generally
good...when Dan Jurgens turns in something he calls "breakdowns" you can
practically just scan them in and give them to the colorist.  Andy "Bart
Sears Lite" Smith's inks show almost no hint of the inker's own style.
Anyway, when contemplating this new "cancel and restart" thing coming up for
the Legion, I idly wondered if there might be a Magic Wars homage here (the
end of the 80s Legion title, for you young'uns).  And, without spoilering too
much, I can say that there DOES seem to be at least a little bit of a Magic
Wars homage here.  Heh.  Simone does a pretty good job of setting up a
credible threat without making the world look inherently corrupt and dying.
Fragile, sure.  Vulnerable, heck yeah.  But it's the difference between
kicking a guy in the powerspheres and saying he had cancer all along, at
least so far.  But I ramble.  While it's not great, it's pretty good...and
"pretty good" is better Legion than I've seen in a while.  Recommended.
$2.50/$3.85Cn 
     Teen Titans #13: DC - The cover shot of Superboy fighting the new Robin
is a bit misleading.  Not just because it isn't even remotely a contest, but
because it's really just a subplot.  Beast Boy gets the main spotlight,
somewhat inevitable now that his background needs to be rewritten to
accomodate the Doom-Patrol-shaped hole in it (thanks a lot, Byrne).  And,
aside from Johns apparently not understanding how tattoos work, it was a good
story.  Recommended.  $2.50/$3.85Cn
     Green Arrow #40: DC - Ahhhh, guilt.  Such a powerful motivating force
for some, utterly irrelevant to others, as the events of this issue
demonstrate.  Ollie's guilt is practically a supporting character in this
title, and it gets plenty of screen time this issue.  Hester's rough art
continues to do a good job of supporting the tone of the stories Winick is
telling.  Recommended.  $2.50/$3.85Cn
     JSA #63: DC - Well, while I felt like a lot of this issue was coming out
of nowhere (or at least out of cold storage), once things got rolling again
it was pretty good.  And this is another comic swimming in continuity (hey,
hard to do a JSA book without that), with plenty of cool silver age
characters showing up.  And Fury's got a great scene.  Recommended.
$2.50/$3.85Cn 
     Fallen Angel #13: DC - It's always good to see the protagonist's
failings, or at least the places where they're no better than "normal", but
in ways that don't require they get beaten up.  And this issue is a good
example of that.  Without going into details, suffice to say that Lee gets
totally blindsided...but it's okay.  :)  Recommended.  $2.95/$4.50Cn

Gone Missing:
     Stuff that came out some places this week and that I wanted to buy, but
couldn't find for whatever reason, so people don't have to email me asking
"Why didn't you review X?"  (If it's neither here nor in the section above,
though, feel free to ask, I might have forgotten about it!)

     None for this week's stuff. 

Awards:

Best Book: She-Hulk #5

"Gotta Wonder What Kinda Neighborhood Cap Lives In That No One Notices This
     Stuff" Award to Captain America #29

"From The Mouths Of Babes" Award to Pulse #4

"Doing Short Time" Award to She-Hulk #5

"Hey, Mr. Cassidy, Yer Kid's Acting Up Again!" Award to Legion #35

"Isn't Bart Kinda Breaking The Law Here?" Award to Teen Titans

"Okay, How Many Guys Winced At That Cover?" Award to Green Arrow #40

"Like Sand Through The Hourglass" Award to JSA #63

"Asia Needs To Install A Ring Of Salt" Award to Fallen Angel #13

   Dave Van Domelen, "Who's the cutest little Wrecking Crew? You are! Yes, you are!" - She-Hulk

Comments

[celarain.livejournal.com]

*grins* I like that She-Hulk quote!