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Snapshots for 4/27/05
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.
BLUE MONDAY: PAINTED MOON #4
by Chynna Clugston (Oni Press)
 Not satisfied to stimulate fan hormones with an issue focused on masturbation, Clugston this issue delivers up a hilarious vision of Victor's paranoid fantasy about the others forming a secret swinging sex club without him. While this might be the comedic highlight of this issue, though, the rest of the story plays out by advancing some of the romantic subplots of the book in a very satisfying fashion. The culmination of Bleu's obsession with Mr. Bishop is awkward and real, and I was very surprised by the way it played out. The developments with Alan and Erin make perfect sense and yet are still pretty much a surprise, and you've got to love any romantic subplot that finds some sense of resolution or development from a plot point in Pretty in Pink. As always, Blue Monday is fun, a little bit naughty, pretty to look at and full of '80s/'90s nostalgia bits welded onto a framework of good solid character-driven storytelling. 8/10
CONAN AND THE JEWELS OF GWAHLUR #1
by P. Craig Russell (Dark Horse Comics)
 If the regular Conan series weren't so good, I suspect that the Jewels of Gwahlur might have found a little bit more favor with me. However, in comparison to the fast-paced, violent and visually engaging Conan ongoing series, the Jewels of Gwahlur just seems kind of flowery and pretty for a Conan tale. Russell goes old school with the narration, not in terms of echoing the pulp roots of Conan but in over-telling the story like a comic book narrator from the '70s, and combined with Russell's deeply detailed panels, one gets the sense that we're seeing Conan's story in too much detail, and the end result is that it's a little too real, a little too examined and more than a little sterile as a result. The lurid flair of Conan is nowhere to be found here, replaced with a plot about betrayals and old grudges that fits into the Conan mold but doesn't have the immediacy of the monthly series. Russell's art is technically beautiful, and his story is clear enough, but the book just isn't as fun or as lively as the Conan I've grown accustomed to seeing. 5/10
INVINCIBLE #0
by Robert Kirkman & Ryan Ottley (Image Comics)
 Now that's a neat trick. Invincible #0 manages to be not only a great jumping-on point and exposition infodump for new readers, but a rewarding continuation of the ongoing story for faithful Invincible fans. Kirkman and Ottley provide a story that is fairly talking-heads, but interrupted by action flashbacks, which perfectly explains the history of Invincible as a book, using the most excellent framing device of Mark finally spilling the details to his girlfriend, who has just discovered his true identity. That's it, a fairly simple narrative trick but one that is perfect for hitting both audiences, new and old, and it's a nice bonus that Kirkman and Ottley end the book on a note that has some pretty big significance for the lead character, albeit on less of a superheroic level than your usual cliffhanger. 9/10
JON SABLE, FREELANCE: BLOODTRAIL #1
by Mike Grell (IDW Publishing)
 Truthfully, I'm having a little trouble figuring out who Bloodtrail is for. I never read Sable back in the day, so I can't judge whether it's a return to form or not, but I can say that to me, the story was pretty inaccessible, and from this outsider's point of view, it looks like it covers a lot of familiar ground for those who did read the story back when. There's a good action sequence as Sable takes on a batch of cliched kidnappers, and the whole thing has a '70s revenge flick vibe to it which reads a lot like Grell's other work on Green Arrow, but the story doesn't really unfold in any clear way. The sequence with Jon and his mentor/enabler Sonny is particularly confusing, as Sonny suggests the "Freelance" tag for what seems like the first time, but it's clear that this is a return to form for Sable in a lot of ways. Basically, Grell provides little teases of who the characters are that might strike a chord of recognition with long-time readers but which aren't exactly welcoming to new readers. Again, as one of those new readers, I can't fairly judge whether or not this is as good as the Sable of old, but I can say that it was a disappointing outing that makes me reconsider my desire to check in on those old tales, if they're as scattershot in execution as this first issue. 4/10
THE PACT #1
by Jim Valentino (Image Comics)
 It sounded like a bad idea at the first, to be honest. Take four fairly unique teen characters and force them into the stale team book format, with a rotating creative team consisting of each character's creators. If you think that sounds like a recipe for bland formula writing, you wouldn't be far wrong, as Valentino's issue of The Pact is an exercise in cliche, as a big threat forces random heroes to step away from their short exercise in daily routine for a team-up, after which they decide to form a team more permanently. In the text piece at the back of the book, Valentino talks a good game about making things different, but the actual issue is by-the-numbers stuff, especially disappointing when you consider the disservice it does to the characters and books who are teamed up in this issue. If The Pact is your first exposure to the world of Noble Causes, Invincible or Firebreather, it's unlikely to make you seek out future issues of those books, and that means the book is not only a failure on its own, but a tragic waste of some of the more interesting, original superhero characters on the market right now. 2/10
PS 238 #10
by Aaron Williams (Dork Storm)
 Aaron Williams has a rare gift, in that he can do comics that are cute, friendly to young readers and yet still inventive and witty. While Nodwick, his parody of fantasy adventurers, is always a joy, he really struck gold with PS 238, a take on the superhero school that sets its sights younger than the usual high school age. In this issue, Williams takes on that venerable school story cliche, the science project, but when your classmates include a girl genius (with an endearing Joisey accent) and an incomprehensible alien thing, that kind of thing is going to get a little out of hand. So it is that the hapless Tyler, the only normal kid at PS 238, winds up on a satellite awaiting nuclear destruction at the hands of an amusingly technophobic supervillain, escaped only through judicious application of silly putty to some poor farmer's home. Strange, funny and endlessly creative. 8/10
PVP #16
by Scott Kurtz (Image Comics)
 Mark Waid is soon to do the new City of Heroes comic, but if you're looking for a comic that truly captures the City of Heroes experience, look no further than PVP #16. Kurtz takes on the in-game amusements like guys playing girls, goofy names and costumes, the vagaries of travel in game mechanics as opposed to superhero tradition and of course the unfortunate game mechanic that found heroes ignoring street crime because it wasn't worth experience points. It's a loving tribute as well as a brutal deflation of City of Heroes, and Kurtz also gets some nice character moments out of it, including Brent's inability to loosen up and have fun with the game, Jade's adverse reaction to superheroine physiques and Francis's attention deficit disorder character creation. The second half of the book is also a City of Heroes spoof to some degree, but this one also examines the nature of jury duty by poking fun at Marvel's half-witted copyright infringement lawsuit, with bonus points for including Skull as a naive juror. Kurtz has a love for all things geek, but I've always found his superhero skewering sense to be especially dead on target, making this one of my favorite PVP issues in a while. And kudos to Kurtz and Image for flip-flopping the book once again to normal stapling instead of the somewhat annoying landscape format. 8/10
RED SONJA #0
by Michael Avon Oeming, Mike Carey & Mel Rubi (Dynamite Entertainment)
 It's clear that the folks at Dynamite are aiming to recapture that Conan magic, with the 25 cent introductory issue, the painted pencil look and the unapologetic violence in Red Sonja #0 recalling the strengths of Dark Horse's Conan #0. However, where Conan #0 provided a great tease and overview of a beloved pulp character, Red Sonja provides a flurry of basically unmotivated violence and overly flowery narration that doesn't really bring the character into any kind of clear focus. Mel Rubi, along with colorists Caesar Rodriguez and Richard Isanove, provides some stunning visuals, and opening with a shot of Sonja's chainmail-clad ass-crack shows an understanding of the cheesecake factor that is Red Sonja's only advantage over the more interesting Conan, but without more compelling plots and antagonists, I'm afraid that Red Sonja is destined for the "also ran" pile while Conan continues to rack up critical and fan acclaim. 4/10
SLEEPER: SEASON TWO #11
by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips (DC Comics/Wildstorm)
 There's a lot to like in this penultimate issue of Sleeper: Season Two. There's the double-cross and some important reveals about Carver's plans, all of which make sense in retrospect but which were played close enough to the vest by Brubaker that I wasn't sure they were coming. There's a terrific action sequence that pits Grifter against dirtbag Peter Grimm, or the exciting escape sequence in a busted-up flying car. If I had to pinpoint the true strength of this issue, though, it's the main strength of Sleeper: Season Two, which is a tone so dark that noir almost seems to optimistic to describe it. There's been a bit of a question in my mind as to what Carver was going to get in the end, the good girl he once was with, the bad girl we'd seen him with throughout most of the series or a third, much more unpleasant option? This book answers that question pretty definitively, in a manner absolutely fitting to Sleeper's tone and in such a way that watching the fallout and wrap-up in the next issue ought to be absolutely riveting. 9/10
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