May 2nd greets us with six books. The good outweigh the bad 4-2. Red Lanterns and Action Comics couldn't be bothered to pick up their own weight.
Red Lanterns #9
Talk, talk, talk. Blah, blah, blah. I thought the fucking Red Lanterns were lanterns of action! For a group of rage-filled monsters who supposedly can't see through their burning hatred they sure do bump their gums a lot.
Not to bust on the writing of Peter Milligan, but I could have written this issue in two pages. Nothing fucking happens. Nada. Goose egg. Ysmault starts to destroy itself and the Lanterns decide they need to find Abysmus (great name too... not even a little) to stop the decaying. We also get some awesome (again, no) monologue-ing from the human Red Lantern Jack Moore. I can't tell you how much I wish he was Razer from Green Lantern: Animated Series. But unlike Razer, Jack Moore, or Rankorr (two "R"s doesn't make it cooler) hums my nuts.
The best part of this issue is the cover by Miguel Sepulveda and Rain Beredo
Action Comics #9
And Grant Morrison's exploration of the Multiverse begins... with black Superman! Actually, all the Justice League members on Earth 23 are African-American. Their version of Wonder Woman is even called Nubia. Subtle, Morrison.
The bulk of this story is full of classic Morrison high concept hi-jinx as yet another Superman from another world comes to bust up Calvin Ellis' (black Superman) hood. The evil Superman who, get this, is a "solid thought" created by an invention made by the Clark, Jimmy and Lois of that world. What's cool, in a "Nazi's aren't cool" kind of way is the design of evil Superman's logo which is a very well-done combining of the Superman S, Swastika and Russian hammer and sickle.
This is a wacky adventure that could have EASILY been pulled from some classic Silver Age silliness. Even on a bad week of books, I don't think this would have ranked much higher.
Teen Titans Annual #1
The Culling begins! Um, yay? Teen Titans has been an up and down book. So my excitement for the crossover with Superboy and Legion Lost is also up and down. MAYBE we should focus on the Teen Titans a little longer than 8 issues before we start crossing over with other books?
Brett Booth, who's responsible for the art on Teen Titans draws this Annual. And its the usual Brett Booth. Nothing so hideous that I vomit in my mouth, and nothing so astounding that you'll see it in the Panel of the Week.
The Titans are thrown into the Crucible with the Legion and per usual, we have the obligatory fight between the good guys before they team up. The Titans and Legion have been captured by Harvest to fight to the death to win the honor of being his personal Ravagers. The story is pretty basic with some SWEET 90s style characters like Warblade. OK. THAT makes me vomit a little. And its all objective. What I think is a cool name/character CLEARLY isn't what writers Tom Defalco and Scott Lobdell think is a cool character.
So that's that. Visit us here in a week when we review The Culling, Part 2 in Superboy #9.
Swamp Thing #9
I'm finally all caught up on my Swamp Things just in time for the final battle against Sethe.
Art-wise Yanick Paquette and Marco Rudy don't miss a beat illustrating the final showdown. Alec saves Abigail from being the Queen of the Rot and killing him and she finds her inner power to kill Sethe. Or rather, just defeat him for the time being. Shit looks like its gonna get real in the next arc.
I rushed to get caught up because I thought the crossover with Animal Man was right around the corner. I'm pretty excited about that, but so far, not a word in these books about it.
Animal Man #9
With Travel Foreman officially off the title, I think new artist Steve Pugh has bent the art a little more toward his own style and away from Foreman's. Everything is just as gruesome and just as good, but its a little more fleshed out. You can really see it in some of the faces.
So Buddy has been possessed by an agent of The Rot. His subconscious though has taken him to The Red. Hopefully to regain his own consciousness and kick the Rot out of his body. In the meantime the Baker family continues east to look for Swamp Thing in the aforementioned crossover with that book.
The last page holds an appearance by John Constantine with a Justice League Dark promo. Seems like we're all getting on the JL Dark train these days.
Voltron: Year One #2
Space Explorer Unit 686, with Sven at the helm, fail their first mission. But only because the mission was compromised by Central Command, 686's superiors.
Two issues in and writer Brandon Thomas and artist Craig Cermak are killing it. In the good way. The story is tight, the dialog is sharp and none of it is wasted. The Voltron robot or even the individual lions haven't shown themselves but its OK. Thomas is doing a great job making this story about the pilots, not the ship.
Dynamite and Brandon Thomas are handling this title with the proper tactfulness and care. Looking forward to more Voltron.
Panel of the Week:
Craig Cermak and colorist Adriano Lucas focus on a single moment in a great looking book.
-Gint
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