Comic Reviews : First Part of February 2018

The Flash Annual #1 by Joshua Williamson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I write comic reviews because I like to. I know that maybe four people read them, but I write them for myself as much as the possibility someone will read it. I don't have any great insight or knowledge, just that I was generally right there for the great books of the last 25 years when they came out. I do read comics in the traditional weekly way as single issues every Wednesday (I used to read quite a bit of graphic novels, but rarely read more than 3 a year any more) I don't have the time or energy to write reviews for comics that come out every week. So I write about the issues that are the most important (the #1s and the stand alones), which I think is logical (Goodreads doesn't feel anyone should use their platform to talk about individual issues, but they can't really stop me).

The problem inherent of course is a series can take many twists and turns after I write about the first issue: It can gel and come together, it can become a mess, it can overstay its welcome, and variations of all those (Williamson's Nailbiter, though I recommend it, probably checks all those boxes).

So, I can use this moment to say Williamson's Flash is one of my favorite current titles.

To reveal my biases, I am more into characters that I feel have some sense of realism. Like the average American movie viewer, than generally means Marvel titles and Batman. It probably also means I have missed some great Green Lantern stories over the years. Flash sort of straddles that line, but it is a character I generally like, and often return to. When Williamson came aboard I was in.

I have generally enjoyed his run. If you know me, you know I think Annuals are generally unnecessary cash-ins, but I picked this one up.

The annual spends some time on Wally West. Like the regular run, I feel Williamson has done a good job with using the traditional Flash characters, but not making it so steeped in tradition that new readers are lost.

The characters, as in the series, are fleshed out and are perfect in a DC Universe kind of way. I probably don't need to mention Howard Porter's art, which is always complementary.

The annual does a great job in taking the first half and summing up Williamson's run to date, and then in the second half, transitioning as a prelude to Flash War.

If you're picking this up, you are probably picking it up as a supplement to the current series. It works well in that context.

Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt (2018-) #1 (Dark Nights: Metal by Grant Morrison

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


In very many ways, I am a Grant Morrison fan. However, there are things he writes that drive me nuts. I generally do not like the big DC comics events he has curated like Multiversity. It is a tired meme that he is the David Lynch of comics, but I do not get much pleasure in his big multiverse cosmic events.

Scott Snyder’s Metal is very much in the vein of Morrison, clearly inspired by Morrison, and if the debt wasn’t plain enough to see, he has got Morrison to write this title as a tie-in to the series.

I am of two minds on Metal. There are parts I enjoy, and clearly the writers (Snyder, Williamson, Tnion IV) are talented. Also, clearly, people love Metal, but I also consider myself a bit of a nontraditional comic fan and I look at stuff like this and wonder how people can enjoy it. Although, clearly they do.

The Wild Knight with Morrison as top credit (with Snyder et al) is Morrison-type DC "Big Event" at the most Morrisonesque. It starts promisingly enough with one of Morrison’s favorite characters Detective Chimp and a well- written origin tale. It then goes into…. Ummm. I can’t really tell you. There’s a Red Tornado story for sure, and the Flash is in there, and there’s a tie-in to the Batmen story from Metal in there, and there certainly is something resembling a Chimpanzee Batman at the end.

I probably should have said Spoiler Alert to those who have not yet read it, but I don’t think I am much farther along than you.

The art is DC event caliber, but I thought it was all pretty much a mess. There’s Porter, Mahnke, and Jimenez, so it’s quality, but I don’t feel like it works much in the comic's favor.

There’s also plenty of five star reviews around for this issue, but I don’t get it. There certainly are moments and panels that are clearly inspired, but these are the comics that leave me shaking my heads and saying “I don’t get it”. Woe to the first time reader who picks up this title.




View all my reviews
Kick-Ass (2018-) #1 by Mark Millar

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Everything fades with time. The hottest trends all eventually fade. Mariah Carey, Deal or No Deal. Upturned Collars . They all eventually fade away. Whether its Fidget Spinners or Pokemon Go or Ricky Martin. So it is with Mark Millar.

Millar was the hottest thing in comics and he parlayed that to where his were the hottest movies of the day. Kick-Ass, Wanted, Kingsman- all were pretty fresh at the time. Although I loved his Kick Ass comic- after three comic series, two movies and a Hit Girl Series, I have to say I am okay with never revisiting them again. I loved them, but its’s been done.

Which of course is ironic in comics. We constantly revisit characters that we have read literally thousands of times.
In any case, Millar’s character is a modern day hero but not a classic archetype and he’s smart in moving on.

In which case, the new Kick Ass is a completely new character. After Miles Morales and IronHeart and everything else, reinvention is a smart solution. Heck, it’s comic books- no character stays the same. We have had multiple Flashes, Green Lanterns, Ghost Riders, Starmen, and Robins. Recently we have seen new Iron Men, Spidermen, Captain Americas and Thors.

So, you can’t blame Millar. Equally, though I liked his recent work (Empress, MPH, Huck, et al) to various degrees, he hasn’t topped or matched Kick Ass in a while. You can’t blame him for returning, any more than a musician attaching their name to their famous band. There is a reason John Gorham tours as Thin Lizzy and not the John Gorham band.
Having said all that, is the book any good? I am a Millar apologist, so you can probably guess. Millar is a pretty divisive writer, so your views also likely won’t change.

It’s a fresh start and I thought it was well done. I don’t know that it’s a particularly original thought, but Millar never was the most original in concepts, it’s how he writes them is his strength.

If you hate Millar, I doubt this will change your mind. If the reason you don’t like Millar is some of his more perverse and obscene material puts you off, then there’s not really much of that here.

Still, Millar is still pretty much a love or hate. For me, it is also worth nothing John Romita Jr is back, and I credit Romita Jr (and his gang) with making this comic as much of a success as is due to Millar.

Millar has moved this title to Image, and still managed to minimize the ads. An initial thought I had is that there wasn’t a lot of substance in the first issue, but I have managed to wave that thinking off a bit. I would say there’s at least the same amount of content as an action oriented comic like Brisson’s Iron Fist.

I was happy with this and look forward to it.




View all my reviews