Capsule Reviews for May 26

[dvandom]

Again, the week's reviews behind an LJ cut:

                    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.
Off to ConQuesT 35 this Saturday in KC.  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.

     Marvel Previews #10: Marvel - The short preview is of X-Men: The End
#1.  Claremont at his, well, best he's capable of anymore, I fear.  Not as
horrible and turgid as JLA, but not that good, either.  And know fear...the
Robgoblin is back with a new X-Force.  Same old art style, though.  Iron Fist
Essentials will probably be going on my pull, though.  99 cents/$1.50Cn or
free with the main Previews.
     Iron Man v3 #83: Marvel - A done-in-one story with Jorge Lucas art that
feels like it might have been done as an inventory story and then shoved into
place before Avengers Disassemble screws up the book (although it probably
wasn't, I just don't keep my Previews around long enough that I could go back
and check, nor do I care enough to research the matter online).  It's an okay
one-shot, although the kind of story that would work better if Iron Man was
all alone in his own continuity.  Mildly recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Supreme Power #10: Marvel MAX - "...hee hee...titties..."  So says one
of the characters in the issue, and it's an apt response to this issue, which
has more (admittedly well-drawn and realistic) bare breasts than the women's
locker room after a game.  Okay, maybe not my best metaphor.  Suffice to say,
probably not an issue to read in a public place unless it's a really relaxed
and tolerant public place.  :)  There's not a whole lot else to talk about
with this issue, unfortunately, and I could outline the plot in a fair amount
of detail in two lines.  Eye candy, a little more exposure for two of the
female Squadrones-to-be (pun intended), and not a lot else.  A good break for
the story read as a whole, but not so strong on its own.  Mildly
recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     JLA #99: DC - Heurgh.  I'm not sure the scripting could be worse than in
#98 while still using complete sentences and correct grammar/spelling, but
this certainly threatens to exceed its predecessor.  It fills me with a great
desire to avoid the new Doom Patrol comic at all costs.  And while it doesn't
seem to sink to the "Panglossian" levels described in a Howling Curmudgeons
discussion of Byrne's FF days, it does commit the sin of being bad.  Avoid.
$2.25/$3.50Cn
     Harley and Ivy #2 (of 3): DC - Wow, a bit of stumble for Dini and Timm
here.  An environmental story I expect...it's part of Poison Ivy's
obsession.  But clearcutting badguys who are a cyborg with chainsaw arm and a
guy with flamethrowers, both dressed like construction workers?  Yeah,
they're probably trying to be so blatant that it's ironic or at least funny,
but it just fell flat for me.  Tres Captain Planet.  Still has some good
stuff, and a particularly steamy jungle scene, though.  Mildly recommended.
$2.50/$3.85Cn 
     Promethea #30: DC/ABC - The end of the world is certainly taking its
sweet time.  Moore is clearly trying to be really deep about the nature of
reality and perception and so forth...but it just comes out as, well,
"cute".  Interesting tricks and the philosophical equivalents of driftwood
art.  Even having the writer and artist appear on the page as they create the
page is old hat by now, more of a wink and a nod than any sort of statement.
Eh.  Can't say the book isn't going out with a bang, as the current and
former mayors grow to giant size while having sex (for all the sex-as-magic
in this issue, it still has less nudity than Supreme Power).  But the
aeschatology isn't very impressive.  Very mildly recommended.  $2.95/$4.50Cn
     Conan #4: Dark Horse - Heh...the cover is misleading, but only in a
pretty subtle way.  The Hyperborean enslaving Conan looks *interested* in the
matter.  :)  This issue is all about setting up the contrast between the
bored and listless immortals of Hyperborea and the fiery drive for life of
the young Cimmerian.  And while not the most compelling issue from Busiek so
far, it's a good one.  Recommended.  $2.99
     Negima vol 1: Del Rey - Picked this up over the weekend because Peter
David worked on the adaptation (someone else did a literal translation, then
Peter and his wife Kathleen turned that into a readable translation).  It's
plastic wrapped because it's for "over 16" only.  The mature readers label
isn't exactly what what's seen (at most a bare butt), but because all
characters seen in various states of undress are minors.  Usually junior
high.  The premise here starts with "9 year old sorceror is assigned to teach
English at an all-girls junior high in Japan, wacky hijinx and accidental
magical clothing removals ensue."  As one might expect, it relies heavily on
"anxiety humor," where the impending embarrassment of one or more characters
is milked for nervous giggles before the inevitable embarrassment happens.  I
don't much care for that style of humor, although the scripting from the
Davids did generally make most of the book readable for me.  PAD has stated
that the tone changes in later volumes, so I might take a chance on vol 2.
Mildly recommended.  $10.95/$16.95Cn

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!)

     Quagmire USA #3 did not ship to my store.  And I was on the fence about
getting Astonishing X-Men (good writing, but reluctant to get ensnared in
X-continuity), but since not enough copies were shipped to my store to even
cover the pre-orders, looks like I won't be bothering with that title.
     Oh, and I did pick up the Spider-Man 2 movie adaptation and Mark
Crilley's _Billy Clink, Creatch Battler_, but haven't had time to read them
yet.  Hopefully I'll be able to review both for next week's column.  And I
wonder if Crilley named the things being battled after the author Creech, who
is usually next to Crilley at the bookstore?  :)

Awards:

Best Book: None this week.  A few good, none great.

"Dude, I Totally Dislocated My Jaw For This Pose!  Advantageous!" Award to
     Marvel Previews #10

"But 'Gee' Has A Soft G" Award to Iron Man v3 #83

"The You-Know-What Is Back" Award to Supreme Power #10

"That Green Looks Awfully Red To Me" Award to JLA #99

"The Village-Destroying People" Award to Harley and Ivy #2 (of 3)

"Here Comes The Sun, In Every Meaning Of The Word" Award to Promethea #30

"Hyperborean?  Try Ritalin" Award to Conan #4

"No One In MY Junior High Looked Like That" Award to Negima vol 1


     Dave Van Domelen, "Y'know, Harl -- you're not half the imbecile you seem
to be."  "Gosh, thanks, Red!  I think." - Ivy and Harley