Matt hurries through comics for 6/23

So I have, like, eleven billion other things to do, most of which I'm even being paid for, so of course I'm doing this to procrastinate. But I'm going to make it quick, though! In, out, comment, done, bam!

(I also previewed a bunch of this week's Marvel books a few days ago but can't be bothered finding the link. Scroll down a bit.)

Here we go!

۞ What If This Was The Fantastic Four: A Tribute To Mike Wieringo is a review-proof book, really, because what kind of jerk would complain about paying five bucks to donate to the HERO Initiative in honor of a really terrific artist...? Okay, fine. I'll do it: this isn't a great comic. Wieringo was one of my favorite superhero artists, he brought a real sense of fun to his work, and his death really is a tragic loss for the comic book community as well as his family and loved ones ... but this isn't his strongest work by any stretch, and it's in service of a Jeff Parker story that's ... well-intentioned, anyhow. The tributes in the book are genuinely moving, and I'm glad to have bought it for charity purposes, but as a comic book, it's really only so-so.

Annnnnnnnnnnd that's me going to hell, I suppose.

۞ No Hero #0 from Avatar is an interesting book, Warren Ellis hammering his particular vision of superheroes onto a Marshall McLuhan/Timothy Leary type. Could go either way, but ... did Black Summer ever finish? I don't remember an ending, but can't see Ryp and Ellis starting something new with that still uncompleted. Yes? No? No time for questions! Onward!

۞ Oh, look, it's eleven thousand Secret Invasion crossovers! Runaways/Young Avengers is actually really strong; it captures the voices of both teams, and has some strong artwork from Spidey Loves MJ mainstay Takeshi Miyazawa. New Avengers #42 and Mighty Avengers #15 are both Bendis showing us what's REALLY been going in his books, and they're good if you're into that sort of thing.

I'm kind of tired of Bendis feeling compelled to actually show me whole entire scenes again and again, because I know something slightly new now, but whatever. It's not like I have to pay for it again each time or anythin-- wait, I do? Oh, well THAT'S annoying.

۞ My Matt Fraction love continues unabated with his work on Young Avengers Presents #6: Hawkeye. (And, seriously, the last issue of a mid-selling miniseries is suddenly written by Matt Fraction and drawn by ALAN DAVIS?!? What the hell?) The double entendre on "god, he moves so fast" alone is worth the cover price on this one. Great stuff. Make Sheldon try to reorder it for you.

۞ I'm going to be honest about this, even though I hate reviewers who say this sort of lazy crap, but I literally fell asleep during 1985 #2. Just dozed right off. Not a reflection on the book, I don't think -- I really am juggling a whole bunch of stuff right now, and it's tiring -- but ... yeah, I'm not really qualified to say. I don't like the art very much, though, so there's that.

۞ Meanwhile, over in the DC books....

You know, cutting all the DC books that I haven't been liking really makes their output seem much stronger to me. Green Lantern #32 continues to be an excellent (if somewhat unnecessary, maybe) retelling of Hal Jordan's origin -- I'm really liking this run on GL through and through. Pity about Green Lantern Corps, but I think I've already covered that.

۞ And the big one: Final Crisis #2 I loved it. Just loved it. It feels less like a stupid, continuity-heavy crossover "event" and more like one of Grant Morrison's better efforts on JLA. (Also, I didn't read Countdown or any affiliated books once I realized how terrible they were, so I couldn't care less about the continuity hiccups, which might help.) Anyhow, yeah, good, packed issue with a real sense of menace for the heroes and some characteristically great throwaway ideas from Grant Morrison. (Bullet shot through time indeed.) This one seems to be getting better with each page, unlike the whell-spinning Secret Invasion on the other side of the store. I'm optimistic.

Okay, back to real work. Bye.

Still finishing my books...

I think Marvel Comics Presents (Issue 9 out this week) is being cancelled. I have no evidence yet, but all the stories end at issue #12 (let's hope they last that long) and I think the sales have been weak. Which is a shame because, much like the previous incarnation, you are guaranteed some good art and/or writing in each issue and they're all reasonably enjoyable. Again, I am biased toward the anthology format (I stuck with Spider-Man's Tangled Web until the bitter end), but this was a fun book. Sure, this issue is illustrative of the uneven nature of the book, but I still like it. To wit, it took two writers to write an incoherent ramble staring the Hulk (called Gammarag, maybe, or something, but at least Ed McGuinness's art is great (colored over pencils, I think, so none of Dexter Vines' inks). Then, there's Machine Man (here, more thoughtful and dour than the version in NextWave) drawn by Niko Henrichon, which is coherent, and brings in his unique history. Then there's two long-form stories that fluctuate issue to issue, but are generally pretty good. And it's probably all going to end once all those stories wrap. So sad.

More sad news: Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men has ended with a Giant-size special. And it was good. Don't believe the anti-hype. After a run that was less-than-stellar art-wise, John Cassaday nails every single panel in this issue. Plus, Whedon is in top form. Overall, this is a very good end to an excellent series. Now, Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi take over and, well, we'll see. But hopes are low, though.

Oh, and Matt Fraction is finishing up his run on Immortal Iron Fist. Issue #15 is an okay issue. I think the timing is off: the previous flashback issue had come right after a storyline that introduced and showed glimpses of the previous Iron Fists. This issue features a character that hasn't been mentioned for a year and, while decent enough, it fails to connect to the greater narrative effectively. Still, I liked it. Though, does anyone remember that K'un L'un is a land that exists in and out of time because of an extra-dimensional ship that crashed there and affected its synching with time and space and is inhabited by human-alien hybrids? Just curious...

And now, fun stuff:

Daredevil 107 reunites Ed Brubaker with Greg Rucka and they come up with a cliched plot that, in anyone elses hands, could easily veer into "hackneyed". But they pull it off. Good stuff.

Marvel 1985 is a surprisingly good book. I was expecting, well, "event" Mark Millar -- the one who wrote Civil War, Fantastic Four, and Wanted. Instead, this is more in line with, say Superman: Red Son: an attempt at an actual, literary comic from a guy who spent the last several years writing books about kicking people in the face (like next weeks Kick A--). Needless to say, I was surprised. Sure, as Matt said, this could all be a trite Twilight Zone with Marvel characters, but at least Millar is self-aware enough to poke fun at himself and the industry. There is a great scene of the main character buying books at his LCS and discussing crossovers and how they mess up the main storylines. Rather than rely on Wedding Singer-style "Hey, it's 1985, it's so lame but retro" jokes, he mixes genuine love and nostalgia for the books of 1985. So, while pointing out that Secret Wars started the comic speculation boom, he doesn't hate on Secret Wars; instead he talks about it and its corporate brethern with affection. So, yeah, I liked it. A lot.

And that's it for the day. Tomorrow, THOR! X-FORCE! FABLES!