Sunday, July 26, 2009

Reviews 23.07.2009

Well this is nice. I’m reviewing something the same week it came out. Spoilers ahead for Wednesday Comics #3 (so-so), Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5 (tickle worthy), Green Lantern #43 (Prologue to Blackest Night), Green Lantern #44, Power Girl #3 (so-so), Gotham City Sirens #2 (tits and asserific), Supergirl #43 (wow), Adventure Comics #1 preview (double wow).
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Wednesday Comics #3
The Supergirl strip continues to delight, Amanda Connor’s art is lovely and I’m really enjoying the little details she’s putting in, such as the kids petting Krypto. I hear tell that this type of story is very silver age. I wouldn’t know as I haven’t read much silver age stuff, but now I’m more inclined to give the old fashioned stories a go.
Kamandi is just an old fashioned adventure story really.
Superman is still lovely – full of emotion.
Tim’s derision of Wednesdays and the violence it brings, in the Teen Titans strip, makes me chuckle. I think it’s great how this strip contains more than one group of Titans.
The Wonder Woman story is very full of information, but that doesn’t make it bad. The colours are beautiful, the lettering is really effective and I find it really interesting. This strip has received a lot of criticism, but I’m not getting that.
Flash has just got a whole lot more interesting, what with Barry visiting the future.

I no longer have any interest in Metamorpho, Strange Adventures, Metal Men, Sgt Rock, The Demon & Catwoman, Batman, Hawkman, Deadman or Green Lantern.

Final Crisis: legion of 3 Worlds #5
Oooh this went all meta! I am a big fan of these types of stories so was very tickled by the outcome of this one. Not really much else to say. We finally saw the reunion of Superboy and Bart with the Titans and respective families - the scene was set up in the same manner as that of Green Arrows return from the dead.

Green Lantern #43 (Prologue to Blackest Night)
I succumbed and placed all Blackest Night titles on standing order. Initially I wasn’t going to bother with the prologue issues but I was told that I really should get GL #43. Post reading, I’m not that bothered by it, but I guess it’s good to see where Black Hand came from since he’ll be an integral part of Blackest Night.

Green Lantern #44
J’onn is back and beats up on Hal and Barry. John Stewart is at the site of Xanshi when all the black power rings descend and proclaim the dead to Rise. As the man says, That ain’t good.
It sure isn’t!

Power Girl #3
Ultra Humanite’s ship is powered by a giant organ. Hur hur. Innuendo aside, that’s a frickin’ great idea! Terra and cameos from the JSA made the final installment of this story more interesting. I was rather enamoured of the way in which Peej and Terra rescued Manhattan. The new alien ladies look like great fun and remind me of why Amanda Connor’s art is so good.

Hopefully now that this arc is completed we won’t see any more discussion of the use or ownership of Peej’s body.

Gotham City Sirens #2
The idea of Selina getting training from Talia Als Ghul on how to hide Bruce’s secret for the world is just terrible. An awfully cackhanded way of resolving last issue’s cliffhanger.

Although the colouring and pencils in this issue is gorgoues, the gratuitous tits and ass isn’t. The scene where the criminal blokes are checking out Harley and we only see a torso, that’s not gratuitous - we are seeing her from their perspective and they only see her as a hot piece of meat.

Every other scene of Catwoman, Ivy and Harley where their breasts, bum, legs or lips take centre stage, that’s gratuitous. It is interesting that the other women in the comic (bystanders) aren’t objectified like this, so it seems to be that the artist (or editor, whoever makes these decisions) is deliberately choosing to make the 3 heroines uber sexy. While I understand that they are all sexy and each has their own way of using their sexuality, that doesn’t mean that every.single.scene. has to objectify them. When the 3 of them are together, alone, in the warehouse they won’t be using their feminine wiles on each other. It follows that the art should reflect this. Yes, they are wearing sexy costumes, but their costumes don’t require them to arch their back or for the focus to be on their hips, groin, chest or grossly distort their anatomy. I’m thinking specifically of the first splash page with Selina tied up. What is going on with Ivy’s thigh. Legs, and joints do not work that way!

Supergirl #43
Oh my I’ve been waiting a long old time for this issue. The cover is beautiful and would make a perfect poster. Kara thinks so too as she has a photo of it on her desk. That is incredibly egotistical and weird. Who has pictures of themselves on their desks? Well, I know people do, but I think it’s bizarre. It’s similar to have a portrait of yourself up in the living room…

This issue gave us a lovely snapshot into Kara’s home life on Krypton. The arrangement of items in her room, the way the clothes are strewn across the chair and floor and the objects she has decorating her room all give us more insight to both Kara’s personality and Kryptonian life. Her white outfit that’s he’s wearing at the desk is evocative of 2 of the Tonner Supergirls doll. I wonder which design came first?

Kara is a typical teenager in this installment, by that I mean self centred and self pitying, and I don’t mean that as a criticism. She is convinced that her mother is sending her on all these chores in order to punish her. Her mother is actually doing it as a favour to her so that she can learn more about her new world and make an informed choice when it comes to choosing a guild.

I thought this was a great piece of characterisation. Who here hasn’t, as a teenager, been so convinced of their rightness and world view that they cannot fathom that their parents may have a different motivation for asking them to carry out chores.

This sub plot also served to further differentiate Kara from other heroes. Dinah Lance, Barbara Gordon, Wonder Woman would never have jumped to the same conclusion. Granted, they wouldn’t be put in that position because they don’t have the adult-teenage mother-daughter dynamic, but nevertheless as adult women they have maturity and an understanding of life that you generally don’t have as a 17/18 yr old. It tells us more about her and contributes to an individual characterisation that distinguishes her from not only adult heroes but also her teenage peers, Mia, Cassie Sandsmark and M’Gann M’orzz wouldn’t have had the same interpretations of her mother’s requests.

I am not faulting Kara for reacting the way she did, it’s something everyone goes through and it’s necessary as you grow up to be a mature, responsible adult. It’s really good to see that she’s not being treated as standard teenage hero model 3 and it also helps us see her growth from issue #1 to now.

All in all, an excellent issue.

Adventure Comics #1 preview
The art in this is ace. Colours, pencils, layout, all of it. It looks like the first issue is going to re-establish Connor’s place in the DCU, comparing him to Superman’s career, re-connecting him to his friends (hello there Bart!) and looking at how he performs with potential disasters. This is going to be a must on the pull list.

Currently listening to: Patti Smith's Easter.

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