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Snapshots for 2/25
There's no way that Don and I can cover all of the material we have for review in full reviews, so these capsule reviews will offer some brief comments on other recent releases.
COMMON GROUNDS #2
by Troy Hickman, Ethan Van Sciver, Jon Holdredge, Dan Jurgens & Al Vey (Image Comics/Top Cow Productions)
 Common Grounds is an unusual anthology style book, centered around the notion of a superhero/villain donut chain but really not about the unusual notion of such a chain at all. Instead, Hickman's stories so far have centered on employees, heroes and villains in their downtime, with a style that reminds me somewhat of Kurt Busiek's more down-to-Earth Astro City tales. Hickman's characterization and dialogue is a little more Silver Age than Astro City, and I think he'd do himself a favor by getting a little further out of the protagonists' heads, since he sometimes overwrites the conflicts and emotions driving the stories, but the central ideas are pretty interesting. The second story is stronger in this one, a tale of superhero/sidekick with a family twist and a clever twist ending, but the opening story develops a likable character very well. The problem of both stories is one endemic to the nature of Common Grounds, in that it seems like important foundation work for both of these characters, but we're not actually likely to see them again to take advantage of that work. The artwork, by series regular Dan Jurgens (and Al Vey) and guest artist Ethan Van Sciver (and Jon Holdredge) is solid, classic superhero stuff, hitting all the right notes in each story. Overall, Common Grounds is well-written and well-drawn, and while it doesn't have the spark that would make it a favorite of mine, it has been consistently entertaining so far. 7/10
COUP D'ETAT: THE AUTHORITY #1
by Robbie Morrison, Whilce Portacio & Trevor Scott (DC Comics/Wildstorm imprint)
 Huh. Who knew that Coup D'Etat was French for "waste of my time?" OK, that might be a little harsh, but after reading the four Coup D'Etat one-shots, almost to a one featuring artwork that is not to my taste and an interesting premise that just didn't support this stretched-out format, I feel pretty confident in saying that this whole thing could have been done much better with one creative team and one comic. Probably a 22-pager, actually, although it might not have felt so thin, story-wise, at 48. At any rate, anyone who read even the slightest smidgen of hype knows how the whole thing will turn out, and so Coup D'Etat: The Authority is a bit of an anti-climax. The big reason to read is to look for The Authority's trademark wit (missing in action since Millar left the series, or maybe even a couple issues before that), spectacular widescreen violence (which Portacio doesn't do very well, lacking in all-important background detail and even moreso in clear storytelling) or some surprise or twist about whether or not The Authority is in fact going to take over America (no such surprises await you.) It's not really fair to blame the failings of this book on Morrison, any more than it's fair to blame the general weakness of the crossover on Brubaker, Wright or Casey. Flashy artists who hearkened back to the '90s Wildstorm house style instead of the much more impressive styles we've seen on new Wildstorm books like Planetary, The Authority, Wildcats Versions 2 and 3 and Sleeper, combined with a story that plays out on a connect-the-dots level with slight nods to how it affects the status quo of the lead characters in each one-shot combine with an unwieldy format to create yet another forgettable Wildstorm crossover. If you missed this one, consider yourself lucky... but don't make the mistake of not following up with the much superior product that Wildstorm puts out on a monthly basis in books like Sleeper and Wildcats Version 3.0. 2/10
EL CAZADOR #5
by Chuck Dixon, Steve Epting & Jason Keith (Crossgen Entertainment)
 Their core titles are dropping like flies and rumblings of missed payments and other business difficulties continue, but El Cazador is another indication that if Crossgen can right the ship, they'll finally be producing the strong type of material they should have been doing in the first place. Dixon's piratical epic features a lot of forgettable characters rather than a strong ensemble for me, but the story is bolstered by a lot of believable atmosphere, a strong central character in Lady Sin and, of course, some of the best art in mainstream comics by Steve Epting. Keith's colors are a little too dark as compared to Frank D'Armata's work, but they're solid enough to work, and the stunning amount of detail in Epting's work still comes through, placing the reader into a very vivid and well-realized Caribbean filled with piracy. After last issue's impressive sea battle, this one feels a little quiet, but it's important development stuff as Lady Sin fills her crew and expands her armada, and the tease of another naval confrontation in the next issue has me very interested. 8/10
FUSED #2
by Steve Niles, Josh Medors & Peter Rejovski (Dark Horse Comics)
 Niles may be best known for his horror work, but if Fused is any indication, I sure wouldn't mind him doing some more superhero work. By far the strong central core of Fused is the relationship between Mark/Cy-Bot and his lovely and intelligent wife Nikki, and Niles writes some great stuff between them this issue, particularly when the two of them discuss how Mark's transformation has affected their relationship. As with the first issue of the series, the hints that the suit is modifying itself has me curious to see where Niles is going with that whole story, and pretty sure we're not going to get just a retread of the "superpowers cost me my normal life" which can be a bit tired. This issue also introduces our first pure supervillain, not the self-interested Dr. Hussar or the selfishly motivated DOA, but a terrific Silver Age style villain calling himself Cro-Mag. Medors's artwork, while not as impressive as original series artist Paul Lee, is pretty solid, and certainly there's something to be said for artistic stability. Certainly it was the rotating artists that killed a lot of my enthusiasm for the original series, but after two issues, I'm remembering why I was so hyped for this series in the first place, and it's easily the strongest book in the Rocket Comics lineup. 8/10
GYO VOLUME 2
by Junji Ito (Viz Comics)
 I'm not what you call a huge horror fan, so the spellbinding effect that manga horror genius Junji Ito holds on me is more than a little bit unusual. Not as unusual as his stories, of course, which center around the most bizarre of ideas (human-sized holes that compel people to enter them and disappear, a sentient gas that bloats fish and animals and turns them into walking biomechanical horrors) and hit levels of suspense, disturbing and disgusting visuals and creepiness unseen in pretty much all other horror comics. Ito is a master at making our heroes seem trapped by the omnipresent force of horror, and he always manages to leave things pretty ambiguous, unanswered, without making the story unsatisfying. The true nature of the gases and exoskeletons that infect the world of Gyo is never fully explained, but Ito offers up enough in the way of potential explanations to creep the reader out and leave them to think about the causes of this horror. More to the point, he brands the reader's mind with unforgettable images like humans stuffed at both ends to keep in gas that moves their bloated corpses around, a disgusting circus made up of bizarre diseased freaks or a world overrun by barely sentient machines that used to be animals. Ito takes horror comics to a new level, playing upon our natural fears of the unknown and the gross by using a truly twisted imagination and impressively detailed artwork. 9/10
THE LEGION #30
by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Chris Batista & Chip Wallace (DC Comics)
 "Foundations" was shaping up to be an arc just as impressive as "Dream Crime" or the battle with Robotica, but the final issue, while suitably loud and action-packed, was actually a bit of a disappointment. Shaky time travel rules, one Darkseid too many and way too many characters leads to an action sequence that is beautifully drawn by Batista and Wallace but winds up feeling a bit inconsequential. There really wasn't any doubt about the outcome of the fight, so I was hoping to see some cool moments within the fight, but everyone is pretty much reduced to "generic blasting guy" so that the dodgy time travel mechanics can be reworked. It's kind of like those Star Trek episodes where the drama hinged on someone resetting the power settings... technobabble is a necessary evil of these types of settings, but it should never drive the main conflict. Certainly this issue is capable enough, but it's not exciting or surprising like the best Legion stories under this team have been. 5/10
QUEEN & COUNTRY #23
by Greg Rucka & Mike Hawthorne (Oni Press)
 Constant sellouts at my local store have prevented me from reviewing this title on a timely basis, but the increase in sales that indicates is certainly a welcome tradeoff, because Queen & Country continues to be a terrific read. Rucka's work, aimed at creating a very real feeling of inter-office and inter-agency politics, could sometimes use a glossary to accompany the "What Has Gone Before" and "Cast Roster" features in the book, but the context is generally clear, and the reality generated by the use of regional and agency-specific slang and acronyms is worth any momentary confusion. This issue introduces another Minder (hopefully he'll have a longer lifespan than the last two) who I quite like with an unusual and surprising "flaw" that drives him from the military to secret service and shows Tara in one of the softer, quieter roles she has played as a spy. By far the most fascinating aspect of the story, however, is seeing Paul Crocker play fast and loose with the rules once again, this time at the behest of a higher-up, and the tension that comes from another agency perhaps catching him with his hand in the cookie jar. Complex yet accessible, character-driven and yet tightly plotted, what else can one say about Queen & Country? Well, I guess you could mention the artwork, and while Jason Alexander was my favorite artist on this book, I think Mike Hawthorne may have taken his place. Despite a similarly elongated and stylized facial structure for his characters, Hawthorne keeps each character readily identifiable and distinct, and given how much of Rucka's script plays out along subtle emotional lines and unspoken reactions, it's no small feat that Hawthorne's storytelling gives the reader indications of exactly what is going on in the thoughts of any given character at any given time. 10/10
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #3
by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, Adam Kubert & Danny Miki (Marvel Comics)
 While everybody else is getting excited about Warren Ellis's impending run on this book, I'm actually a lot more interested in seeing how Bendis and Millar wrap up their first arc. The decompressed storytelling that became the industry norm in no small part thanks to Ellis's experimentation with structure is in full force with this book, as we're three issues in and just now seeing the superpowers that define the characters in the book. Fortunately, while all too many books mean "boring as hell, nothing happens" when they try "decompressed," Bendis is one of the guys who can pull it off, and he and Millar weave an interesting story about the origins of this team that mixes a sense of wonder in with a touch of humor, a touch of horror and plenty of characterization. Purists might balk at having Reed notice the elemental theme of his team (a bit of meta commentary, that) or seeing the space journey transformed instead into a teleporter mishap, but I think that the creators capture the flavor of the Fantastic Four in a different way rather than turning the concept on its head for no good reason. In addition, Kubert and Miki are on in this issue, with a creepy and effective first look at Mr. Fantastic's powers, a fantastic rendition of the Thing with a humorous yet powerful indication of the physical power he now carries with him and a stunning double-page spread to close out the issue and introduce the team's first big foe. I'm sort of feeling like I've had my fill of the Ultimate universe, but it seems that lately whenever I read the books they can still hook me in a big way, and I have no trouble understanding why they're dominating the sales charts so effectively. 9/10
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