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PIPELINE COMMENTARY AND REVIEW #23
09 November 1997
by Augie De Blieck Jr.
http://www.nic.com/~augie/pipeline
Reason Number One Why You Shouldn't Let Leftists Grab Hold of American
Patriotic Icons: U.S. #1
What a stunning disappointment this book was. Sure, the art is
gorgeous, and the mechanics behind the story are solid, I'm sure. But at the
risk of starting a long-winded and boring political argument, this is the
most left-leaning comic book I've EVER read. It's downright insulting. I'll
probably buy the second issue to see if Darnall can somehow redeem himself
and to look at the rest of Alex Ross' paintings, but unless something drastic
happens, there ain't no way in hell I'd buy this as a TPB collection in
addition.
Everything You Know Is Wrong: JUDGMENT DAY #3: FINAL JUDGMENT
Alan Moore wraps it all up. Rob Liefeld barely pencils anything,
sending in the clones instead. And it's brilliant. I can't explain it
without blowing all the surprises, sadly, but Alan Moore puts to rest the
first 5 years of Image Continuity in a brilliant way.
And this, of course, brings up that other nugget of angst for today's
comic book readers: When do you buy the series, and when do you just wait for
the collection later? JUDGMENT DAY will be released in TPB form in January,
including a 10-page story by Chris Sprouse. So why didn't I just skip this
issue, late as it was, and pick it up as part of the collection in January,
saving myself $2.50? There's no good sound economic reason. The only
reason has to be impatience.
Should I bother to pick up U.S. #2, or just wait for the inevitable TPB
next spring or summer? At this point, I'll pick up #2 and skip the TPB.
It'll be cheaper that way. And I won't be funding any more blatant
Democratic Advertisements.
In the end, I guess I just wish more people would go the SIN CITY:
FAMILY VALUES route. Don't even bother serializing the story. If it's a
mini-series of four issue or less, just put it out in a collected edition to
begin with. It'll give the writers more pages of storytelling, since they
don't have to recap the story so far every month. It'll be cheaper on the
fans who won't have to pay for it twice to read the entire story. (See the
KINGDOM COME TPB for a good example.)
Don't Even Consider Drinking Pepsi While Reading This Book Because You'll
Spit It Right Out Your Nose And Ruin Your Comic Book: DEAD-POOL #1
This might have to get my award for single-issue comic book of 1997.
It's just that good. 50 pages-long, so it takes a while to read. Dead-Pool
and Blind Al find themselves in the middle of an issue of Amazing Spider-Man
back in the days when Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. were doing it. Dead-Pool
doubles for Peter and Al for Aunt May and all hell breaks loose. I had to
put the book down to laugh out loud on just about every page. Dead-Pool
laces into Norman Osborn for his hair, Al ameks fun of Anna Watson
mercilessly, and hormones abound. I can't recommend this one highly enough.
Reasons to Trust Your Friends' Recommendations: X-MEN #70 and SUPERMAN: MAN
OF STEEL #75
(Special thanks to Joe and Derek on these two!)
Occasionally, I take up my friends' suggestions on books I have to read.
MAN OF STEEL is a funny, comical, light-hearted, satirical take on all things
currently Superman. I can't really get into it without spoiling many of the
jokes, but suffice it to say, Mr. Mxyzptlk is back with a vengeance and with
a death-wish. It parodies Superman's death quite well. Jon Bogdanove's art
suits this issue well.
With the exception of a couple of completely unlikeable new characters,
X-MEN #70 reminds me of all which was great about Chris Claremont's mutants.
Joe Kelly is at the writing reins, and turns in a winner here, based strongly
on the characterization of these non-interchangeable mutants. Cecilia Reyes
comes across as the complete opposite of Maggot and Marrow - a tortured
sole I'd like to see saved. I think I might give this title a couple more
issues to hold me. If it doesn't spiral downward into the heavy
villain-of-the-page type stuff with too heavy continuity like the X-books
usually do, I might stick around for awhile.
-Augie
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