Welcome! Since we live in tough times, where comics are not cheap, I think there should be no middle ground. The Comic Book Maw is a weekly, or as close to weekly round up of what comics I got, and what I thought to be good, and or bad. Hopefully it might sway you to avoid, or pick a book or two. Enjoy!
The Bad:
Deadpool MAX #11 (of 12): David Lapham and Kyle Baker’s run on the insane Merc with a Mouth has hit it’s penultimate issue, and this one is a clunker. It drags, it is more confusing than normal, and frankly, makes me not want to pick up the final issue. The artwork is pretty good, but the writing, dialogue, and pacing seemed to be phoned in.
Atomic Robo: The Ghost of Station X #1(of 5): I got hooked on Atomic Robo via the soft cover collected editions that Red 5 put out. I love Atomic Robo, but I found out that I only love Atomic Robo in it’s complete story form. This is a comic that only reads well in a collected format. I just wasn’t feeling it. But I will surely get this in it’s TPB dress.
Action Comics #1: I like Grant Morrison. I like Rags Morales. Hell I even like Golden Age Superman. But this was not something I liked. I gave it a shot. Jesus, I paid $3.99 for it instead of finding a pirated copy floating around on the internet. So, what didn’t I like. The art for starters. Rags’ art here looks off. Really off. The eyes are weird, they are distracting. It’s like looking at a room filled with people who have lazy eyes, you are best off looking at the floor or ceiling.
"Rocky Road?"
The noses look funny as well, he makes Lex Luthor look Arabic. There is art inconsistencies page to page. On one page Superman looks like he’s in his 20’s, the next, he looks like he is channeling Peter Parker at about the age of fourteen.
"Yeah, Ummm, Mark Bagley..."
Speaking of Peter Parker, this comic is more Spider-Man than it is Superman, in particular Spider-Man 2. The crap apartment, the stopping of the train, the people standing up for him, the hair. It was not meant for me. The art was poor, I would rather have seen Brent Anderson(X-Men: God Loves Man Kills) on the art, but hey, to each, his own.
The Good:
Rocketeer Adventures #4: Final issue in the anthology series starring that late great Dave Stevens’ jet pack wearing, buxom beauty loving Cliff Secord. Though this was a limited run, I really hope they do another soon, this was nothing but fun, and though this was not the best one out of the four, it’s miles above what most serialized stories offer.
Flashpoint #5(of 5): Finally picked this up. One of the better Event Comics that has come out in recent years, hold on, well it’s better than Secret Invasion, Final Crisis, and Civil War, so yeah, pretty damn good. The touching ending, is pretty much the last I think I’ll see of the old DCU, which is now in a state of flux, and God help anyone trying to make sense of it. The artwork is good, writing by Johns not so bad. But I still miss Wally West, who was a better character, and in a better position to be a protagonist than Barry will ever be. On another note, this is the first time I have ever taken notice to how stupid the Flash, and Reverse Flash’s antennae things are. What the hell are they? Why do they exist? I don’t care what the answer is, they are stupid. This is coming from a character who runs on a Cosmic Treadmill.
Uncanny X-Force #14: Still dealing with the Age of Apocalypse, this book is firing on all cylinders, Rick Remender’s writing, Jerome Opena’s art, and the lush colors of Dean White. This book hasn’t been out for a year, and here it is September and they are all ready at issue 14. They have a system, and the system is working better than expected. Stories have been great, to phenomenal, but I am a old school X-Men nut, so I might be a little biased. But the artwork alone is worth the price, that’s if you are one of these “buy it for the art” people.
The Vault # 2(of 3): This is really comes off as a screenplay/treatment that is trying to be made into a movie, and after the first issue, and according to Bleeding Cool, this comic will be a movie. For being what it is, it is pretty cool. It’s a suspense/horror story, that deals with the mystical. I could recommend it to anyone looking for a comic that you don’t have to know tons of backstory to get into.
Animal Man #1: Okay this is by far my favorite comic from this haul. Animal Man comes off as a self sustained universe, that is setup within the first page, and you are able to dive right into the family dynamic. Which sets this comic apart from 90% of the comics out today. The writing is top notch, and is my first exposure to writer Jeff Lemire, and as a result I shall seek out other works by him. Travel Foreman I know, his artwork was in CLA$$WAR, and he did some work for Marvel MAX’s Supreme Power. His artwork is creepy, and the occasional elongated person is easy to forgive. The book is more deserving of a higher rating though. Disemboweled children rank pretty high up there. This is really a Vertigo book, set in the DC Universe, but hey, I now have a comic to pick up out of the 52 new number ones.
In Closing:
It was a pretty good week. Spent $33, so I didn’t break the bank. Came out on top, and learned that Atomic Robo is read much better in one fast clip, not serialized. I still won’t support a quitter like Jim Lee, or buy another issue of Action Comics, but damn, Animal Man has my $2.99 for sure.
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