Happy Monday, ‘Rama Readers! Ready for some Best Shots action? I know we are! So let’s kick off today’s column with the Man of Steel, as Vanessa takes a look at Action Comics #5…
Action Comics #5Written by Grant MorrisonArt by Andy Kubert, Jesse Delperdang and Brad AndersonLettering by Patrick BrosseauPublished by DC ComicsReview by Vanessa Gabriel’Rama Rating: 7 out of 10Click here for preview
It’s the “New 52,” and the new Action Comics. Therefore, we get to revisit the fall of Krypton. How many times and how many ways can Krypton be annihilated? In yet another take on Supes’ origin, Grant Morrison makes subtle tweaks to how it all went down in the House of El. With minor adjustments to previous continuity, Morrison paves the road for a plethora of possibilities for future stories. For now, we press pause on the events of issue #4 and focus on baby Kal-El making it to a planet with a yellow sun and less gravity, so he will be super. Superman’s cute baby self is escorted in a rocket powered by an artificial intelligence Jor-El calls Brainiac. It is Brainiac who narrates this issue, entitled, “Rocket Song.”
Morrison telling the story from the rocket’s point of view is rather brilliant. The Brainiac technology has traveled across galaxies and has a penchant for arrogance. “Jor-El of El, the father of such a mind!” Brainiac’s mind, I presume. “Apes with atom bombs” is the way it refers to humans as they descend upon the crash site. There is a matter of factness in the narration that feels stoic and extreme, perhaps what we imagine an alien to be. It works well.
I typically enjoy Morrison’s work. I find his reference-heavy, symbolic writing to be thought-provoking. Up to this point, Action Comics has seemed a bit more straight-laced than what we usually get from Morrison. It is time to put your thinking caps back on, kids. Action Comics #5 is bringing the converging plotlines and a bit of time-travel fancy. I am certain it will be tied together, magically, at some point. We will have to wait for it, though. In the meantime, Issue #5 does give us a few “a-ha!” moments regarding the previous four issues.
What was that weird goat creature that Lex thought was an alien in issue #2? Where IS Krypto? Um, is Superman’s cape indestructible? How did the U.S. Army get possession of the rocket? These questions are answered in fairly satisfying ways. Still, for all the exposition in Action Comics #5, we are now faced with a heap of new questions. Who is the Anti-Superman Army? What the hell is Synthi-K? Wait. How is the Fortress of Solitude created? Is that the Legion? Did you just say “tesseract?”
Action Comics #5 succeeds by bringing richness and nuance to a long-loved story. But if someone picked up this comic and had not read any of the prior issues, they would be completely lost. This is where Action Comics #5 fails, because I thought that is what DC was trying to get away from. The purpose of the relaunch was to bring in new readers, particularly on flagship titles such as this. For a seasoned comic reader, the convoluted, esoteric elements that Morrison adds to his stories are part of his charm. But the truth is that Morrison’s writing has made Action Comics insular after a few issues. You simply must go back to Issue #1 to know what is going on.
Andy Kubert does a super job with the hand that he was dealt. He may have drawn the best Jon Kent I have ever seen. He has a knack for letting the eyes of the character tell the story in a panel. There is some really great expressiveness, which lends a lot of much needed emotion to the story. Where Grant goes off on a bit of an alien tangent, Kubert brings the issue back down to Earth with some classic (solid) comic art. I also think that Jesse Delperdang’s inks and Brad Anderson’s colors play a big part in the traditional feel of the issue.
While there is something fantastic in Morrison’s cryptic references and unabashed imagination, the feeling of “Oh my gosh! That was so good” does not dwell in these 20 pages. It is clever and interesting, but serves more as disjointed, ambiguous groundwork than an action comic.
Punisher #7Written by Greg RuckaArt by Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano and Matt HollingsworthPublished by Marvel ComicsReview by David Pepose’Rama Rating: 8 out of 10
Greg Rucka is a legend for a reason. Take a look at Punisher #7, for example. Who else would take a book with a notoriously fickle fanbase — sorry, but how many relaunches do you need to establish that fact? — and then write an engrossing, character-driven police procedural, all without any explosions or the typical bloodbath?
Oh, and did I mention Frank Castle barely even make an appearance in this book?
But even with Frank out of the picture, his restless spirit looms large over this latest issue of The Punisher, as a grizzled cop starts putting together the pieces of this vigilante’s latest series of rampages. Sometimes, you can only get a sense of somebody’s character based on what other people have to say about him. Other times, you can only know a man by his enemies. Rucka is a writer smart enough to know both.
And by having a pair of cops as his lead characters, Rucka also gets to play up theme and tension. While initially having a Morgan Freeman-esque detective hounding Frank Castle seemed a little off-putting, Rucka’s finally giving these Officer Clemons some bite. It’s not derivative anymore, it’s a role, and the best part is that we not only get to see what Frank’s up against — and Clemons and Bolt are a lot more with it than you’d expect — but we get to argue back and forth about the merits of the Punisher himself. Should he be allowed to operate? What makes people sympathize with him? These are questions that give an otherwise two-dimensional character some surprising depth.
Artwise, it’s a kick to see Gotham Central alum Michael Lark reunite with Rucka. While initially it’s a little jarring to see his art style, given the hyper-pretty renderings of Marco Checchetto in previous issues, but his scratchier, gnarlier lines give this book a new sense of purpose. You sense the intensity behind Clemons’ build, you feel the nervousness behind Bolt’s eyes, as he hopes to keep his secrets.
In a lot of ways, it’s been an odd choice of Rucka’s, to spend so much time looking at Frank Castle from the outside rather than from within. This issue, however, shows that he has some serious brass ones that he’s not afraid to clank up and down the street. Who needs the Punisher when you can set up the chase? Even though our hero is largely absent — and almost completely a mystery — Rucka’s still giving us plenty of reasons to root for him.
Artifacts #13Written by Ron MarzArt by Dale Keown, Sunny Gho, Gina Going, and Tom RaneyLettering by Troy PeteriPublished by Top CowReview by Lan Pitts’Rama Rating: 9 out of 10
When Top Cow was proposing that their mega event was going to change everything, they really meant it. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call a “game-changer” that is the key center around the Cow’s “Rebirth” angle. Among all the ending scenarios I had thought story architect Ron Marz could have done, this ending even caught me by surprise. Also, since I read this after I read Witchblade #151, it filled in some spaces and answered some questions, so I advise you don’t make the same mistake and read this first.
Marz has worked with some amazing talent over the course of this journey. For this finale, he’s paired with Hulk and The Darkness alum, Dale Keown. The thing about Artifacts I really enjoyed was the rotating art team. Now, everybody since Michael Broussard set the bar in the first arc, each artist spared no expense in rolling out some great visuals. I had just gotten use to Jeremy Haun’s style and the guy has been doing the best stuff of his career here. It’s very opened and lets you appreciate the world around the characters, as well as the characters themselves. With Keown here, I loved his renderings and it’s good to see him drawing Jackie again, but some panels and even pages, felt very closed in. More than a few pages, there is nothing but above-the-waist shots of dialog. It doesn’t come until almost at the end where he loosens up and really hammers out some good stuff, including a two-page spread featuring Jackie Estacado doing what he does best. His compositions are great, but it all comes across as mild compared to earlier scenarios.
As usual for this series, there is a small back up origin story about one of the Artifacts. Tom Raney is on board for the art, and I’m not really familiar with this stuff prior to this. I do remember his Black Widow many from a couple years back, but that’s mainly it. He has some fun here with Marz’s imaginative back story. Big props to Sunny Gho as he’s done a great job adapting to every artist along the way. I think his pallet comes across as a bit softer in this issue, but really does a great job balancing very bright scenarios to very dark (meaning use of shadows, not actual tone of the story).
Now, Marz has crafted quite an interesting beginning of sorts here for all the characters involved. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Sara is relocating to Chicago and this is where she takes her first steps. I wanted to give it a perfect score here, but it just felt wrong. All the pieces come together and it is a great start for any new reader to jump on board here. But it’s weird seeing certain characters moved around (and one in particular coming back) in this fashion. I’m looking forward to see what develops here, but I guess I’m still not over the shock. The execution, though, is tremendous and trust me when I say you don’t want to miss this. Whatever Marz has planned for the Artifacts ongoing, I will be on board for, but readers, you are in for something quite rare with this read.
Animal Man #5Written by Jeff LemireArt by Travel Foreman, Steve Pugh and Lovern KindzierskiLettering by Jared K. FletcherPublished by DC ComicsReview by Scott Cederlund‘Rama Rating: 8 out of 10Click here for preview
It’s often said that horror is that the scary stuff that you don’t see. It’s the builds up as you wait to see the shark or the alien in movies that creates the suspense in those stories. In comics, it is the way that the zombies lumber along, extremely dangerous more because of the potential that is in them more than in anything they actually do.
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