This week's big winner is a book I wasn't planning on buying in the first place. Funny how that works out sometimes, huh?
Sixth Place:
Futures End #43
Forty-three down, five to go. Manhattan has been cut off from the rest of the city as Brainiac begins to raise it to take it with him. For as many superheroes as there are in the DCU, this has really come down to Superman v Brainiac. Batman is trying to stem the tide of Brother Eye and Terry McGinnis is trying to shut down Terriffictech. But ultimately, Superman needs some help.
For a while now Futures End – which had surprised me in its quality for the majority of its run – continues to limp toward the finish. The Superman and Batman stories the last couple issues aren't interesting. I'm more invested in McGinnis and Plastique who is clearly the breakout star of Futures End. Her pages have kept me invested the entire run of the book.
The inconsistent art from Andy MacDonald this issue doesn't help pull me in. Some pages are very well done while others just look rushed and sloppy, in particular, all the Superman pages. At this point, after forty-three issues of a weekly with a revolving cast of artists, this is clearly nitpicking. There are monthly books that have worse art on a regular basis.
Fifth Place:
Sinestro #10
I'm not sure how long this book will be on the Pull-List. When it kicked off it was pretty brilliant, but since it had to bend itself to the will of the Godhead crossover, some of the shine has come off. I'm a fan of writer Cullen Bunn and artist Brad Walker, but coming out of Godhead, I'm just less interested.
Sinestro has been captured by Mongul, and while Bunn writes Mongul based on the Geoff Johns mythology, it still feels like a different character. Add to him new characters The Paling and Mongul's Apex League (alien Justice League) and there's a ton of new characters and ideas to get familiar with.
I wish I had a better reason why these last couple issues haven't really spoken to me. A writer and artist I really like, but there's some missing x-factor.
Fourth Place:
Batman #39
Man, I really want to love this story. I want Endgame to be the Joker story I absolutely can't get enough of. But Scott Snyder has changed Batman's world so much that its almost like reading a character based on Batman, not the real Batman. Snyder's Court of Owls was brilliant, and Death of the Family was interesting, but since then things have gone off the rails.
Snyder seems hellbent on making his own world for his Batman and all his new characters and concepts to live in. But it seems like its a world that Batman has become just the catalyst for all these new characters to move around. Sure, there's a story reason Alfred's daughter is now the new Alfred, but she doesn't need to be there. Just use Alfred. Snyder is eschewing long standing characters for his own agenda.
On top of all that I haven't liked FCO Plascencia's color palette since Zero Year. There's just too many pastels and bright colors. Its more Joel Schumacher Batman than the grim and gritty character I prefer. As much as I love Greg Capullo's art, the colors take all the enjoyment out of it for me.
I think its official that once Endgame is done, I won't be buying Batman anymore.
Third Place:
Aquaman #39
Jeff Parker and Paul Pelletier do their absolute best to manufacture a reason for Atlanna (Arthur's mom) to attack Arthur and Mera when they first meet. They eventually get around to a good reason by the end of the issue, but early on its just the classic "first meeting misunderstanding fight."
Atlanna has been hiding from Altantis for roughly 30 years. So of course she's skeptical (and even a little close-minded) about Arthur showing up claiming he's her son. Going back to the Batman and the Sinestro reviews above, Parker and Pelletier have also introduced a lot of new characters and concepts. But for some reason they work better than those other books. Everything feels in service of the character/story and not the writer (I'm looking at you, Scott Snyder).
This Geoff Johns/Jeff Parker Aquaman run is my favorite run on an Aquaman book. I've read the Peter David stuff and Morisson's JLA era stuff, but this is what's really speaking to me. Its a completely smart, well thought out book for this period of Aquaman in the DCU.
Second Place:
He-Man: The Eternity War #3
I remember a long time ago when I first saw Pop Mhan's work. It was on a Keith Giffen-written He-Man book that launched this current series. It was super mediocre. Some of it I couldn't classify as all that good. But he's been the main He-Man artist for roughly 28 issues and he gets better with each one. I've watched every facet of his work grow and its pretty impressive.
He does a damn fine job illustrating She-Ra and Stratos' assault on the Horde troop guarding the desert of the Sands of Time. Just when I think I've seen all the He-Man characters Dan Abnett and Mhan could pack into these books, they dig deeper in to the mythology and pull out real characters I never knew existed. Amazing job using the actual mythology in front of them (still looking at you, Scott Snyder).
We've seen Abnett write She-Ra as being pretty badass before, but he really steps it up this issue. Lost in the white dress and gold headgear is the fact that she's essentially Wonder Woman of the He-Man universe. She's a fierce warrior and good on Abnett and Mhan for bringing that out 100% this issue.
First Place:
Darth Vader #2
The only reason I bought #1 is because I had a small week when it was released. I had the extra $5 to throw at it. I'm glad I did because so far its leaps and bounds better than Star Wars. I doubted Darth Vader needed his own title. Keiron Gillen is proving me wrong.
General Tagge, one of the guys we see on the Death Star in A New Hope, left before it blew up. So he's now in charge of the Empire's response to the Rebel attack. Tagge doesn't get a lot of screen time or dialog in A New Hope, but using what's available, Gillen has really channeled who this guy is. He has no problem taking the mickey out of Darth Vader.
Which brings me to my only sticking point. Gillen is making Darth Vader the Empire's bitch. Granted, based on that board room scene in A New Hope, a lot of the generals don't respect Vader. That theme continues here. He's the Charlie Brown of this series. I guess that's the point: you want to cheer for him because his higher ups keep shitting on him.
Splash of the Week:
An example of Pop Mhan's growth on He-Man. His work has been a real pleasure to read lately.
-Gint
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