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Snapshots for 8/31/05
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.
DR. BLINK, SUPERHERO SHRINK #2
by John Kovalic & Christopher Jones (Dork Storm Press)
 There are two stories at work in this issue of Dr. Blink, and neither of them start off as strong as I would like, but both finish pretty well. One story is about the inferiority complex of Dr. Blink when confronted by his TV pop psychology nemesis, the other is about the inferiority complex of one of many sidekicks who has now retired to a life of obscurity and tedium. When it comes to kid sidekicks, most of the jokes have already been made, and Kovalic has some funny gags but not a lot of really fresh ones, and the subject of rivalry between professionals has been pretty well-trod ground as well. However, the real strength of Dr. Blink #2 isn't in the gags, but in the more serious moments that make up the ending of both stories, a nice parallel ending where the two protagonists realize what's really important and manage to pull themselves out of a self-destructive pattern, and the final splash page has some very funny moments to go with the general uplifting feel that comes over the reader in the last few pages. I also continue to be impressed with the artwork by Christopher Jones, which is bright and animated without losing the more serious tones of the story. I have to confess, though, that while I somewhat enjoyed the main story of Dr. Blink #2, I was delighted to find a new series of one-page strips about a female superhero by Alex "Box Office Poison" Robinson in full color. It's a treat seeing Robinson's work in color, and his take on the life of a superhero as viewed through the lens of how it affects her social life looks like a lot of fun so far.
 Grounded #2 offers up the same imagination and sense of fun that the first issue had, but Sable's desire to include a lot of big ideas does make for some rushed and occasionally unclear storytelling. There were several moments here where it took a couple read-throughs to grasp the points that were being made, including the nature of Desire, the Virus and the powers of Mr. Clean, who seems to be disintegrating the lockers rather than just erasing the grafitti on them. Then there's the initial sequence where Jonathan walks through a girl and is attacked by The Bully, and it seems like we missed a couple of steps of motivation for both actions. That said, the occasional confusion is a flaw, but Grounded remains an entertaining read. The moment-to-moment storytelling can occasionally be clunky, but the general artwork by Azaceta remains an impressive real world meets superheroes style with nice muted colors by Nick Filardi and the neat ideas that Sable has come fast and furious and make the book very enjoyable to fans who like seeing the genre stretched a little bit.
HERO SQUARED #2
by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Joe Abraham, Mark Badger & Shannon Denton (Boom! Studios)
 This issue, Giffen and DeMatteis tackle an important question that's been at the center of Hero Squared, the question of what caused the fallout between Valor and Caliginous and the destruction of their world. It's done Rashomon-style, with Valor relating his version to Stephie and Caliginous relating hers to Milo, and the effect works pretty well. The jokes are, to be honest, a little on the stale side (Superman and Batman analogues with gay tension between them, superheroes talk funny, kid sidekicks get killed a lot), but the general tone is more fun and light than a lot of what passes for superhero comics these days, so I kind of enjoyed that. More to the point, the actual structure of the story, with Valor and Caliginous attributing different parts of the story to different people as they "retell" their account muddies the issue enough that the reader doesn't get a definite answer, but there are enough similarities to get the rough shape of an answer to one of the big questions. The flashbacks work from a story point of view, but the choice to have two different artists draw each flashback is a little more questionable, if only because Abraham's work seems notably superior to both of the flashback artists. In particular, the story from Valor's point of view sometimes looks borderline childlike, with an overabundance of sound effects, garish coloring and panels so crowded with lines that it's impossible to get much of a sense of what's happening.
INVINCIBLE #25
by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Cory Walker, Todd Nauck, Khary Randolph, Joshua Luna & Matthew Roberts (Image Comics)
 Now that's what I call an anniversary issue. It seemed like during the '90s, the 25th issue or 50th issue or what-have-you was a great time for a cheesy variant cover and a double-priced issue stuffed with filler. Invincible, however, has a 25th issue that is double-sized (and double-priced), but which rewards the reader with tons of neat extras and revelations and a significant turning point for the lead character. The lead story has all the hallmarks of classic Invincible, with some great character moments between Mark, his mom, his best friend and his girlfriend, a nice callback to early developments between Atom Eve and Rexsplode, and, of course, the fight promised on the cover between Science Dog and Invincible, which has an interesting and unexpected explanation.
The backup features, however, were a really nice surprise, as original Invincible artist Cory Walker, joined by some notable guest artists, illustrates a number of short flashback tales wherein Kirkman reveals the origins of some of Invincible's supporting cast. The Monster Girl origin (drawn by Todd Nauck) is my favorite, but the one-page Immortal story is a good one as well, and the story of Dupli-Kate, starting out in what is basically the midst of a Chinese martial arts movie, is also very enjoyable, with great art from Joshua Luna. The Science Dog backup is also kind of fun, a character and book very much in the tone and style of Invincible, and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing more of the character, although the introduction of his origin here was kind of clumsy, as the main villain relates to the main hero the story of their origins, which is information that really, both of them already have. At any rate, if you've strayed from Invincible and wanted to know when a good time to come back would be, issue 25 is it. And if you haven't tried it yet, pick up the first trade and go from there, because this just might live up to its semi-facetious cover heading of "Probably the best superhero comic in the universe."
RUNAWAYS #7
by Brian K. Vaughan, Takeshi Miyazawa & Craig Yeung (Marvel Comics)
 Runaways #7 kicks off a new story arc and brings back occasional Runaways fill-in penciller Takeshi Miyazawa, and the result is one of the best issues of the Runaways relaunch yet. I'm loving the slightly tweaked team dynamics since Alex died at the end of volume one, which have gotten a further shake-up with the introduction of Victor Mancha. Things actually change and grow in Runaways, and they do so in a way that doesn't involve the characters suddenly betraying years of characterization but instead grows out of consistency with the characters as established. This issue in particular introduces a new potential wrinkle into the Chase/Gert relationship, has a significant turning point for the Nico/Karolina relationship and features yet another great scene for Molly, one of the best characters in the book. On top of all the relationship stuff, though, Vaughan hasn't forgotten to keep things moving, and so we have a memorable treatment of a C-list Marvel villain and the introduction of a surprising and intriguing new plot in the form of the cliffhanger ending. Top all this off with Miyazawa's artwork, perfectly capturing the youthful energy of the characters and providing some terrific action as well, and this is an issue that serves as a reminder of how good Runaways is, and why it should be sitting at the tops of the sales charts rather than sitting closer to the lower middle. Anyone with a fondness for superhero teams, especially those who grew up with New Mutants or Power Pack or who are buying the New X-Men or Teen Titans, should definitely check it out.
YOUNG AVENGERS #6
by Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung & John Dell (Marvel Comics)
 Six issues is a long time for a setup, especially when the sixth issue is so late, but I confess that I'm still rooting for Young Avengers. I've come to like these characters, enough that the sacrifices that they make for one another in this issue carry a certain emotional weight to them, and this really does feel like the beginning of something cool, the way the formation of a new superteam is supposed to. The new codenames and costumes are not a vast improvement on the old ones, to the point where I think it might just be a cause for unnecessary confusion (Wait... what's his codename again? And what are his powers?), but I do like the sense of starting anew that we get in this issue, a sense that the team has faced danger and struggle together and come out on the other side. Heinberg, Cheung and the rest have taken what was essentially a lame concept and created something that's interesting, fun and new, with solid ties to the Avengers that gives them one foot in the old as well. Given that the next arc involves the characters' parents, I'm a little worried that we're still going to be doing setup when we really should be seeing a superhero plot developing, but the moment-to-moment writing and general vibe of the book is a good one.
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