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Snapshots for 4/14
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.
FABLES #24
by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham & Steve Leialoha (DC Comics/Vertigo imprint)
 I know who Red Riding Hood really is... I know the deal with the Wooden Soldiers... and "March of the Wooden Soldiers" still has my on the edge of my seat. Such is the strength of Fables, and Willingham continues to impress with what may be the best story arc yet. It was nice to glimpse the Farm again, but even nicer that what's going on up there spells out a big clue as to who the big bad wearing Red's skin is, and I love her as the bad guy. There's also a great sense of foreboding as The Adversary makes his presence known a little more forcefully to the Fables community, and the notion of an invasion becomes a very real possibility. Suddenly the minor problems of hiding from the Mundy world or taking on a few rogue Fables seem insignificant, and this arc has nicely upped the ante for the series as a whole. In amidst all this, we have some great characterization, whether it's a revealing moment for Pinocchio, Bigby Wolf proving once again that he's the biggest badass in the book or Snow White showing why she has the steel to run Fabletown in the first place. With Buckingham and Leialoha providing the now-traditional great art, hitting every emotional moment called for in Willingham's script in just the right place, Fables continues to delight. 10/10
GOTHAM CENTRAL #18
by Greg Rucka & Greg Scott (DC Comics)
 Here's something I've noticed about Gotham Central: It always, always needs a reread. To really get each issue, you need to read it more than once, and to really get the storyline, you need to read it all together. Now this says any number of things, potentially - like maybe the book isn't as clear as it needs to be, maybe it would work better as a straight to trade rather than a serial format - but what it says to me is that this book is more complex and more intelligent than 90% of the comics on the market. Rucka's tale of a couple of poisonings takes several twists and turns, including a divergence into the mob that has more to do with illuminating one of the detectives than fitting in with the overall story, but it ends up with a pretty simple and satisfying explanation, and ends as the first storyline entirely devoid of any kind of costumed bad guy, which is nice. Greg Scott's artwork looks a little weirdly stretched out, with characters whose faces look kind of pinched, but despite that, I'm generally pretty happy with his performance, which has the same gritty look as Michael Lark and some really nice work on the settings, like Detective Bartlett's houseboat. His storytelling also really gets across the awkward silences that dot Rucka's script and make up a lot of the important storytelling moments. 9/10
GREEN ARROW #37
by Judd Winick, Phil Hester & Ande Parks (DC Comics)
 You know, before Kevin Smith, I would have had a hard time buying Green Arrow becoming that involved with mystical villains, and I still don't think it's a good idea to hit it too often. But Winick's second storyline on this book made a pretty graceful segue from using a long-time Batman villain into a mystical martial law being imposed on Star City, and the imaginative bad guys and unusual reason for their existence makes for a pretty good adversary. In addition, the book maintains its strongest appeal, the dead-on characterization of Ollie Queen, who is irresponsible and foolish in his personal life but a consummate professional when the time calls for it, and I love seeing him as a leader of sorts for the beleagured Star City, and I loved even more seeing him play the hardass with his back up against the wall with the Riddler. This story also features the usual great art from Hester and Parks, who along with colorist Guy Major really make me believe the oppressive darkness of this new city status quo and who do a fantastic job in designing the flaming demons who now make up the "police" of the city. This plot is an unusual departure for Green Arrow, and I miss the focus on Ollie's personal life that was part of Winick's first arc, but as a bit of a diversion, it's certainly an interesting read. 8/10
H-E-R-O #15
by Will Pfeifer, Dale Eaglesham & Wade Von Grawbadger (DC Comics)
 I confess that though I've enjoyed pretty much every issue of H-E-R-O, the series hasn't really gotten its hooks into me the way I thought it would when the first issue hit. However, this issue reintroduces Robby Reed, the original H-Dial owner, and matches him up with Jerry Feldon, the first recipient of the dial in the new series, and when the two talk, it becomes clear that Pfeifer has a lot more in mind than just "power of the week" stories. The way Robby talks about the dial, as if it might be sentient, hints that he might have gone a little bit mad, but at the same time it also hints that maybe there's an over-arcing story to the dial's existence, more than just random chance. In addition, Pfeifer does a nice job of blending the Silver Age goofy nature of Robby's original adventures, recreated in fine form by Eaglesham, Von Grawbadger and colorist JD Mettler, with the more modern, gritty interpretation. Perhaps most impressively, new artist Eaglesham conveys not just the gritty reality, which artist Kano did so well, but the superpowers, which are more flashy and explosive here than they were previously, bringing some much needed zip to the book. With this issue, H-E-R-O seems to be headed in the direction of a somewhat bigger story, and I find myself once again intrigued by the book at the same level I was when it first began. 9/10
STAR WARS: REPUBLIC #63
by John Ostrander, Jan Duursema & Dan Parsons (Dark Horse Comics)
 It must be rough to be George Lucas and to see all the licensors kicking your ass creatively on the property you gave birth to. Just as the Clone Wars animated series makes me bemoan the suckiness and wasted potential of the Star Wars prequels all the more, so to does Ostrander's fascinating tale of Quinlan Vos, dark jedi who skates the edge between going undercover and going native, all in the answer of battling the Sith. There's moral ambiguity here to rival that of current comics master of noir Sleeper, as not even the reader is sure if Vos's role as a spy are for real or just self-delusion, and Ostrander is also nicely skirting the troubles of licensed comics, using major players like Count Dooku and Senator Palpatine but steering clear of invalidating his stories by showing us some of the failed manipulations going around surrounding these characters. With Duursema and Parsons doing terrific artwork, featuring painted-looking color by Brad Anderson, the book looks as great as it reads, and fans of Star Wars should be as elated by the book as George Lucas should be ashamed that he can't match it's quality. 8/10
TEEN TITANS #10
by Geoff Johns, Mike McKone & Marlo Alquiza (DC Comics)
 The second Teen Titans arc has a fair amount in common with the first arc. Classic villains with a new spin, a terrific mix of action and characterization and a pretty nice combination of Titans lore and new stuff for new fans. While Johns's take on Raven is a little too cosmic and out there for my tastes, there's something pretty creepy about her attacking the tower with a skeletonized giant version of her dead demon father or having Changeling repeating an ominous message over and over again. I'm more taken, however, with this younger version of Brother Blood, whose vampiric tendencies and youth make him a very different character from the original but perhaps a better match for a teen team, and whose costume design, courtesy of McKone, is fantastic. Of course, that's no surprise, given that McKone, Alquiza and colorist Jeromy Cox are turning in breathtaking widescreen superhero action that can stand right alongside the work of Bryan Hitch, only, y'know, on time. Just like JSA, this is classic superhero storytelling for fans with even a casual interest in the DC universe and a must-have for DC superhero fans. 8/10
X-MEN UNLIMITED #2
by David Hine, Adi Granov, Robert Kirkman & Takeshi Miyazawa (Marvel Comics)
 One introduction to an offbeat mutant series and one weird little one-shot featuring a teenager by one of the most exciting new writers in comics. Not a bad formula for an anthology issue, but sadly, once again, X-Men Unlimited winds up being little more than a good but not great read for X-Men completists only. Hine's story of Bishop has plenty of mood and serves as a neat prologue to his District X series, but Adi Granov's photorealistic art is printed way, way too dark and is too pretty for the gritty subject matter, especially when it makes Bishop look like a kid instead of the seasoned cop that he acts like. Granov's art isn't bad, in fact it's gorgeous stuff, it's just too dark to read clearly and not really a good fit for the story. Takeshi Miyazawa, however, is a perfect fit for the story of asian mallrat Jubilee, and Kirkman writes a pretty convincing rendition of the mallrat lifestyle. Sadly, such a lifestyle isn't all that interesting, and the tacked-on element of the story about mutant racism is the kind of thing we've seen time and time again. Both stories are worth a read, and if you happen to be a fan of either Bishop or Jubilee, they're both good solo stories for those characters, but as always there's not a lot of substance going on in the Unlimited books. 7/10
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