|
PIPELINE COMMENTARY AND REVIEW #34
25 January 1998
by Augie De Blieck Jr.
http://www.nic.com/~augie/pipeline
As of today, there are only 11 more shopping months left til Christmas.
::duck grin run::
First, the highlight of the week: SUPERGIRL #19. I commented last week on
how it felt that Peter David's writing on THE INCREDIBLE HULK was finally
getting back in line with the Hulk stuff that drew me in close to 100
issues ago. SUPERGIRL has always been a title I've enjoyed, but it's
varied from month to month, from pretty good to great. The last period of
real greatness, for me, was just at the end of Gary Frank's tenure on the
title, which I suppose was issue #9. With the last couple of issues of
SUPERGIRL, we're seeing things click perfectly again. I can't compliment
it enough, from the risky story he's telling here to the way he's telling
it to the wit and wisdom being used throughout the current storyline. Along
the way Leonard Kirk is doing some terrific work. His opening splash page
of Supergirl ice-skating is absolutely gorgeous and stunning. I wish
they'd make a poster of that somehow. (Someone tell DC to sponsor the
Olympics, so this would fit as a poster. ;-) In other words, if you're not
reading this series yet, start now. Get the TPB which collects the first 9
issues and work the back issue bins.
Another mind-blowing experience for me was CAPTAIN AMERICA #3. Mark Waid
and Ron Garney are credited together as storytellers. It seems to be
happening more and more in comics like that these days. It's as if the
industry has finally gotten over this whole artist vs. writer debate and
realize they both work for the same thing and you need both to get the job
done properly. The art and the words mesh perfectly here. Ron Garney's
simplified pencil line brings out a clear approach to storytelling and
figure drawing. Mark Waid is a master of plotting and pacing. CAPTAIN
AMERICA may well be Marvel's finest book right now.
QUANTUM AND WOODY #12 was a disappointment. While there were still some
fine bits in it, and M.D. Bright's artwork is still top notch, the entire
thing seemed to scream spin-off to me. Why? Because it's obviously an
attempt to spark interest in writer Christopher Priest's upcoming Acclaim
title about the "Urban Jungle." All of a sudden, a new group gets
introduced into the on-going storyline with little introduction and little
payoff in the story. It just seemed forced and pointless.
THE SAVAGE DRAGON faces Thor in issue #45 this week. Erik Larsen continues
to flout convention. His Thor is more the rough and ready Viking type.
He's a womanizer and a lout and a drunk and a barbarian. He talks in a
manner befitting an old-style god, but without the pretentious and hard
to read "thee"s and "thou"s. And Dragon gets an up-front seat to watch
Thor and Herakles duke it out. It's more fun, in the mold of Dragon vs.
God. It's part homage to Simonson and Kirby, sometimes more plain that
others. And it's another fun chapter to read in the Dragon's life.
I picked up CHRONOS #1 from DC this week. I'm not sure about it yet. It's
not the whole "time travel makes Augie dizzy" thing. I can deal with
that. But the whole series right now has a "been there, done that" feel to
it. Chronos is an unknown element who learns from the DC characters of the
past. I read Starman. I read Flash. That's good enough. The first issue
doesn't have anything approaching an exciting or engaging story. It's
there for the sake of introducing the new readers to the series and setting
some things up. I'll probably read John Francis Moore and Paul Guinan's
next couple of issues to give it a shot - The Kents show up next issue -
but I'm not holding my breath.
X-MEN #73 has some nice Jeff Johnson art, but it's Joe Kelly's plot which
bothers me. It's typical of the worst of the X-Men. There are too many
plotlines going on. Not much in this issue gets resolved. More questions
are raised than answered. No plot lasts longer than a couple of pages
before being dropped again, and if you haven't been reading for the past
year, a few pages come off completely meaningless. Go back and re-read
issue #72 of this title. It had a point, at least.
-Augie
|
