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Snapshots for 4/28
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.
AGE OF BRONZE #19
by Eric Shanower (Image Comics)
 This summer, a huge audience will be exposed once again to the story of the Trojan War through Wolfgang Peterson's flick Troy. And the sad thing is, only the tiniest percentage of them will have read Age of Bronze, which is certain to be much better-researched and deeply nuanced than the Hollywood version of the story. I guarantee you won't find anything in the movie as moving as this final issue of the "Sacrifice" story arc, which has presented one of the lead characters with an impossible choice and presented the readers with an impossible-to-predict story (unless you know The Iliad already, in which case you're just cheating.) Shanower's final chapter of the story is full of heroic sacrifice, pledges of loyalty (Brad Pitt's Achilles won't be anywhere near this noble, no matter how much of a tough guy he is) and tragedy, both writ large (in the death of a character) and small (in the death of a character's hope and faith in himself.) In addition, while Troy will be full of visual spectacle, Shanower is no slouch when it comes to grand scale as well as small, personal storytelling, and his use of a constant sound effect to indicate the wind comes to a very satisfying and effective conclusion this issue as well. Age of Bronze: Sacrifice will be collected in hardcover in May, and probably in softcover some time thereafter. Anyone with an interest in Troy, whether they wind up enjoying it or not, should definitely give Age of Bronze a try, as it is capturing both the spectacle, the history and the emotional density of the story in the way that no other medium but comics could do so well. 10/10
BE A MAN
by Jeffrey Brown (Top Shelf Productions)
 For those who haven't read Jeffrey Brown's other work, Be A Man will read like either a collection of male tough guy cliches or a joke you're not in on. The reason for the latter is that this is exactly what Be A Man is, a goofy send-up of Brown's painfully honest and sensitive stories of his romantic life, a sarcastic rejoinder to those who feel that masculinity and self-confidence has to mean being a chauvinistic jerk. Brown's ironic portrayal of guy cliches, from not caring about his partner's satisfaction in a variety of areas to an obsession with sex and a pathological inability to be monogamous, are hilarious when viewed in context of Unlikely and Clumsy. Fans of Brown's work who were wondering if he had funny in him as well as brutal honesty shouldn't miss Be A Man. 8/10
COMMON GROUNDS #4
by Troy Hickman, Carlos Pacheco, Dan Jurgens & George Perez (Image Comics/Top Cow imprint)
 With an artistic roster like that one, you'd expect Common Grounds to be a feast of gorgeous superhero spectacle. Unfortunately, Common Grounds really isn't about that, it's more of a talking heads book, and that means these artists, good as they are, can't really show what they're truly capable of. What we're left with instead is very pretty, very professional stories that aren't amazing revelations, but which show a pretty strong ability to write short, an ability that very few comics writers can pull off. Two of this issue's stories focus on aging superheroes and supervillains, hitting some universal themes and tinging them with the superhero genre to good effect, and the other is the most effective story of the series so far, exploring the plight of overweight superheroes and superheroines. Hickman's stories are not laugh-out-loud funny or mind-blowingly original, but they are neat ideas presented in an amusing fashion, usually worth at least a chuckle or a moment of thought. In that respect, Common Grounds is not unlike the donuts served at the fictitious coffee houses that give the series its name: Sweet, tasty but not really filling enough to make a meal out of. 7/10
EL ZOMBO FANTASMA #1
by Dave Wilkins & Kevin Munroe (Dark Horse Comics/Rocket Comics imprint)
 There's some kind of fascination with wrestling that crosses over into comics fans, and generally I haven't really understood it. However, the mixture of Mexican wrestling, complete with masks and outrageous names, has turned out some entertaining comics, among them Holy Terror and Battlegods: Warriors of the Chaak. It has not to date turned out a profitable comic, and I doubt the El Zombo Fantasma is going to change that. Munroe and colorist Tony Washington turn in some very nice artwork, reminiscent of the cel shaded animation of Don Bluth, and their over-muscled portrayal of El Zombo Fantasma or remarkably cute portrayal of his young charge gives the book much of its personality. Unfortunately, even with such a weirdly fun concept, Wilkins and Munroe have really failed to bring that fun to the page. There are moments, such as Belisa's confrontation with her landlord, that show an amusing wit and comic timing, but generally, the whole thing feels sort of routine, which given the very bizarre high concept, seems like it would be almost impossible to do. 4/10
THE GOON #6
by Eric Powell (Dark Horse Comics)
 Another issue of The Goon, another giant mexican lizard battling a giant gorilla while depraved citizens wait to scrounge the body parts and the narrator engages in freeform dialogue with the reader as bizarre as anything you'll find on the Japanese show Banzai! Which is to say, The Goon has managed to become predictably unpredictable, always featuring some twisted ideas that seem like a mixture of '50s monster movies, post-modern commentary on same and a jug of home-brewed moonshine. Powell's artwork also continues to impress, whether it's the perfect presentation of a giant monster battle, the imaginative design of the monsters in the first place or the perfectly frenetic pacing that maintains the manic energy to be found in the script. The highlight of this issue, though, is the narration, which ranges from defensive about perceived insults, filled with strange metaphors and odd tangents like wondering why alien beasts from beyond aren't ever composed entirely of heaving breasts. The Goon is odd, beautifully drawn and always entertaining. I can't wait to see this unusual character meet up with the similarly unusual Hellboy in the next issue. 9/10
THE LEGION #32
by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Chris Batista, Chip Wallace & Jay Leisten (DC Comics)
 The villains from Legion Lost return! This would have a lot more impact, mind you, if DC had actually reprinted Legion Lost so that I could read it, but that gripe aside, Abnett and Lanning do a pretty good job of selling how dangerous the fanatical Credo are to the fragile new peace that the Legion is working towards. This is the penultimate Abnett/Lanning issue, and it does feel like they're sort of scrambling to wrap some things up, notably the return of Livewire in Element Lad's body, but at the same time, it's a pretty good start to a final story, even if I'm not sure how they're going to bring it to a satisfying conclusion in just one more issue. Batista does a fantastic job this issue, both with the design of the villainous Credo members and with a spectacular shot of the Legion team assembled for intimidation purposes. I can't help but feel that I'd be getting more out of these stories if I had read the early Abnett/Lanning setup stuff (thanks again, DC, for never giving the book any trade support), but this still reads like some of the best Legion in recent years, and I'll be sad to see this creative team go, especially when they clearly have plenty more stories to tell. 8/10
MINISTRY OF SPACE #3
by Warren Ellis & Chris Weston (Image Comics)
 The long-awaited finale to Ministry of Space has finally come out, lowering the tally of "where the f*ck is it?" questions about Ellis projects by one. After a couple of years, it's difficult to remember exactly what happened in the previous two issues, but fortunately those are available... in the already sold-out Ministry of Space Omnibus. Really, God help you if Ministry of Space was one of your favorite comics, because the publishing schedule has been a nightmare. Leaving that aside, though, how's the story? Well, it's a bit muddled, honestly. Ellis's script jumps around in time, but the jumps in time are not made remotely clear, and so the point about the history of the project and the changes it has wrought, both positive and negative, are also pretty much unclear and muddled as well. The project gets by largely on the vastly imaginative landscapes as depicted by Weston and colorist Laura Martin, whether it's a portrait of London in 1960, lousy with spaceplanes and personal helicopter-toting children or a spectacular, practically silent five page sequence showing the first Mars landing. Ministry of Space turns out to be pretty but ultimately somewhat empty, not unlike many of the three-issue Ellis projects. From my point of view, the format doesn't serve him all that well. 6/10
STAR WARS: EMPIRE #18
by Welles Hartley, Davide Fabbri & Christian Dalla Vecchia (Dark Horse Comics)
 "To the Last Man" concludes in this issue, and despite some minor flaws, it remains one of my favorite Star Wars stories ever put to paper. Hartley cheats a little in terms of resolving last issue's cliffhanger, and his otherwise intelligent Lieutenant Sunber acts surprisingly naive about battlefield politics in order to give the book something of an ironic end, but otherwise this is a terrific ending to the story of Imperial military meeting a deadly foe on a faraway planet. Fabbri, Vecchia and colorists Sno Cone Studios convincingly convey the chaos of battle between Stormtroopers and alien natives, and their depiction of fallen imperials gives considerable weight to some of Hartley's narration, reminding the reader that these are honorable soldiers, not the evil forces of the bad guys of the Star Wars saga, at least for the purposes of this story. 8/10
SUPERMAN #204
by Brian Azzarello, Jim Lee & Scott Williams (DC Comics)
 I have to say, the Superman revamp hasn't impressed me much. Not because it's not full of talented people, but because they're not doing the kind of stories I want to see with Superman, which would be more in the traditional superhero vein and less in the talky-talky introspective vein that has become pervasive in the superhero genre today. Azzarello starts off with a story that is stylistically similar to the first issues of the revamped Action and Adventures, teasing a change of status quo for the lead character and setting up stories but not really delivering much in the way of an actual story complete in the issue. Superman fans who come here for the action will be disappointed, even with Jim Lee's spectacular vistas of space and some pretty nifty shots of the man of steel. I'm not one of those who thinks Jim Lee is the best artist in the industry (although I seem to be in a minority on that one), but I can't deny that he does dynamic, beautiful-looking superhero work, and there are some nice shots to be found in these pages. However, Azzarello is telling a story that doesn't play to Lee's strengths, a story of emotional struggle rather than physical, of mystery rather than slugfest, of subtlety rather than costumes and supervillains. That said, while the first issue is a little bit on the slow side, it is kind of intriguing to see Superman's crisis of faith, and Azzarello's take on the character has both the strength and the vulnerability I like in the character, and some memorable dialogue to boot. Honestly, the revamp is looking like another swing and a miss, as far as bringing me back into the Superman fold, but at the same time, there's some nice eye-candy and interesting characterization here for those who are more open-minded about what they want out of Superman than I. 6/10
TOO MUCH HOPELESS SAVAGES #3
by Jen Van Meter, Chynna Clugston-Major, Christine Norrie & Ross Campbell (Oni Press)
 I was surprised to find that, despite the madcap chaos of the plot (I mean that in a good way), Too Much Hopeless Savages is actually turning out to be one of the more serious Hopeless Savages miniseries. Murder, or at least attempted murder, international intrigue and personal problems are all wrapped up in this story of mistaken identity and chasing the mcguffin, and what's really odd is that despite this being a slightly more serious tone than the first two miniseries, it still feels right in line with the sort of thing Van Meter has done before. She skids a little too close to the edge of overly coincidental in revealing a past connection between the Shis and the Hopeless-Savages, but I can forgive that if only because it does such a great job of fleshing out Grandma Shi beyond her current portrayal, and besides it features gorgeous art by Ross Campbell. The rest of the story is done by Clugston-Major, finished by Norrie, and I'm surprised at just how well that collaboration worked out. Clugston-Major brings more energy to the page, essential for the action sequences and the expressive characters, and Norrie's finishes provide a tempering influence, bringing Clugston-Major's manga-influenced manic energy down to a place where it fits the tone of Hopeless Savages. There was a bit of a long wait for this one, which can be dangerous for a story with such an intricate plot, but Too Much Hopeless Savages remains perfectly clear and highly entertaining. 9/10
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