Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1

I just managed to read Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1 last night, and I found myself a little perplexed by the book.

Obviously meant to cap off the 24-issue, 4 year run by Joss Whedon and John Cassady on Astonishing X-Men, it works to wrap up the stories he's been writing and as he gets ready to hand the reigns over to another creative team, make sure there isn't too much left dangling.

But four years is a long time, and Whedon makes some creative decisions that don't lend themselves to periodical issues. I could have done with a little exposition and flashback work, which is avoided in favour of some fan service by the writer as he tries to include as many heroes in the Marvel Universe as he can. Granted, he does write a decent Spidey, but for a book with a big #1 on the cover, it really should have taken a little time to remind the readers who the characters were, specifically in the residents of Breakworld, Ord included, and Agent Brand, as well as the newest X-Man, Armour. This will matter less, of course, when the book is republished in the trade, but the fact is I didn't buy the trade, I bought the issue, and I felt a little let down about it.

The best part of the book was the ending, and Kitty really should have gotten some more of the spotlight during the run in order to drive home the poignancy of her sacrifice. It does have a stronger impact when you look at how Astonishing begins, with Kitty's return to the mansion and her memories of growing up there, but that was four years ago for the readers, and should have been brought back into our minds.

John Cassady was his usual brilliant self, and I feel the really added to the book, trying hard to add emotional resonance to a single issue whose script was lacking, and did so, especially with the great moment of redemption for Ord. It's a shame he wasn't given the chance to recap his own work.

All in all, once collected, I'm sure this chapter will fit right in as a nice ending, but as a single issue, it was less than grand. As well, if you have a favorite heroine, and she's cute and spunky, you'd do well to keep Joss Whedon away from her.

The Facts In The Case Of The Departure Of Miss Finch

The Facts In The Case Of The Departure Of Miss Finch by Neil Gaiman caught my eye almost right away, sitting up there all pretty-like on the shelf of my local comic shop. Matte-finished, hard cover and smelling just like a new adventure, I snapped it up and brought it home.

It lay on the shelf for about ten days, as I wanted to wait for just the right mood to read it.

It was a charming tale, especially because of the art by Michael Zulli, and it was just weird enough to keep me smiling all the way through. I liked it, and I'll definitely be sharing my copy with my friends, but I also have found that while the images have stuck in my head, the story was more of a one-off, and it hasn't called me back to re-read it like some of Gaiman's other works, like 1502 or Good Omens. It's a shame too, because it did make me smile in a nice and simple way.

Fantastic Four - Millar and Hitch

I was looking to add a new title to my pull list a few months ago, and the promise of what Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch would bring to the Fantastic Four seemed almost a sure thing. I mean, after all, this was the creative team that brought together the first Ultimates book, and are generally at the tops of the list for quality comics.

Three issues in, however, I'm less than impressed.

Hitch's art is fine, I guess, if not a little static. Three issues in, and he's finally been given a big fight scene to draw, and it ends up being clunky and cluttered. It was a let down, especially when compared to his Ultimates work.

Millar, who usually is able to weave a nice mix of drama and action, but in this run, it's more melodrama along the lines of a reality television show. Johnny Storm is even in the process of setting one up as a side-plot.

Basically, I've bought three issues and haven't felt at all that I've gotten my money's worth. This book is gonna be dropped from my list as soon as I get back to the shop.

Project Superpowers #0-#1

Project Superpowers from Dynamite Entertainment is a new series out, with covers and plotting by comics superstar Alex Ross, scripted by Jim Krueger and interior art by Carlos Paul.

The basic idea as seen in the link above is that shortly after the second world war, all the superheroes mysteriously disappeared, and were, for the most part, written off to live on only in history books. The truth is more sinister than that, with ghosts and myth and betrayal all mixed in.

The Alex Ross covers are nice, if not a little static and cluttered, but his plotting gets me down a little bit. The first two issues really seem to tell you that this is basically Ross' attempt to play with DC's "All-Star Squadron" and making his copies to work the book over at Dynamite. The characters all feel familiar, but in this case, I found that to be detrimental to the storytelling.

Krueger does what he can with the scripts, but the star player here has to be Carlos Paul. I tried to do some research into him, but the web doesn't offer me much more than his work on this book. He's new, he's good, and he'll be big once all is said and done. His art looks like a mix of Neal Adams, Cary Nord, and is obviously influenced by Ross' character designs for the book.

So far, I've dug the first two issues, but I'm worried that Dynamite made a mistake with the release of a #0, as the exposition and the setup all happens there, and without it, #1 would have been hard to understand. But, as you may have noticed, I really dig WWII comics, so this one will be on my pull list for a while.

Kick-Ass

I really have been a fan of John Romita jr. since his work back in the early 80's on Uncanny X-Men. Mark Millar hasn't ever really bombed either. Kick-Ass, from Marvel's Icon imprint should have been a slam dunk as far as I was concerned, but after reading issue #1, I'm feeling it was more of an air-ball.

I feel for Romita, who is a brilliant artist, and has always been one of my favorites, because the story really doesn't give him much to play with. His angles, "cinematography", and dynamic action are all spot-on, and if this was just a book of pretty pictures, I'd have gotten my money's worth.

But the plot was so...leaden. Millar doesn't take the reader anywhere, and for a first issue of a series, he really fell flat. Page after page of exposition, introduction, and pop-references meant that by the time the action did happen, I was already bored. Sadly, #1 did not kick-ass.

All-Star Superman

I just picked up the hardcover collection of "All-Star Superman" by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely yesterday and finished it up this afternoon. Whenever Morrison and Quitely get together, something magic happens, as in their collaborations on New X-Men and for the JLA one-shot "Earth 2".

All-Star Superman had a lot of hype around it before I picked it up, as it topped many a top-ten list before I had gotten around to reading it, and the accolades it garnered over at Fanboy Radio and Comics Should Be Good basically wore away my general apprehension of the big boy-scout outside of the Justice League. Superman usually comes across as a little too good, too powerful to really have anything interesting to say in his stories, and without a Batman or Wonder Woman to offer up some contrast, Superman just becomes silly or boring.

First off, before really even getting into the story, the first thing to catch ones eye is the absolutely gorgeous art by Frank Quitely. He has his share of detractors, but I've always been a fan of his, and on this title he really shines. It looks just so...pretty, which is a little odd to say about a comic, but I can't think of another way to say it. It just looks that good.

Morrison and Quitely do a great job of breaking Superman out of this stigma and really whittling away all the junk from his history, hearkening back in some ways to the Richard Donner film in their simple presentation of the icon.
From the first page, you can see the simplicity of it all. Four panels. Eight words. The origin told more completely and more efficiently in decades. And it doesn't stop there, either, as Morrison takes care to takes us to visit all of the members of the supporting cast, with issues that feature Lois, Jimmy Olsen, Ma and Pa Kent, and of course Lex Luthor.

Taken in all in one sitting, the book did lack a little bit of the mounting pressure that I've come to expect from Morrison's writing. Instead he churns out little 22-page gems that just tell you a nice, fun, perfect little Superman tale. All in all, I can say that the hype and reviews were right, and "All-Star Superman" was one of the best super-hero books in years.

Legion of Super-Heroes

I picked up Legion of Super-Heroes #37 as I dropped Amazing Spider-Man due to the stupid stuff that Joe Quesada had said about "One More Day". Making a decision to drop it and replace it with a DC book, I chose the Legion as it was a new creative team coming on, and I liked the old issues Jim Shooter wrote as a kid, and the art inside looked great.

The issue was good fun, and Francis Manapul has got some pretty good chops, so it looks like the book will be a keeper for a little while. Shooter isn't 13 anymore, but he still seems to think that comics are supposed to be fun, and his writing reflects that thus far. Plots are set up, action scenes are there, characters are introduced without it having to be spelled out for you, and the book ended having both said something and leading into the next issue.