PGHHEAD'S 2022 COMICS ODYSSEY, PART FORTY-FOUR

PGHHEAD’S 2022 COMIC ODYSSEY, PART 44

    In 2021 I set a goal to post reviews here for 1,000 comics, and finished the year at 1,008 reviews. It was a stretch  - - not to read that many comics, because I actually read quite a bit more. The challenge is to find and take the time to write a fair review of what I read - - but I made it. I’m up for a new year, and a new challenge. My goal for 2022 is to read and document 1,200 comics. That’s an average of 100 books per month, easy enough to check and update. Wish me luck!

# GOAL FOR November 20, 2022 . . . 1067 comics documented

CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 989 comics documented

#968 - #971  DETECTIVE COMICS #943 - #946 by James Tynion IV with art by Alvaro Martinez, Al Barrionuevo, Carmen Carnero and Eddy Barrows (DC, December 2016 - February 2017) “The Victim Syndicate”. Since I’ve only read the first four parts of this six-issue story, I’m not going to be too critical of it. This was just Tynion’s second arc for DETECTIVE COMICS and you can note the progression of story-telling skills by contrasting this with his later work on BATMAN.  

     The Victim Syndicate is a super-powered group of individuals who were caught in the crossfire between Batman and his foes. These innocent civilians were either maimed or broken by Batman’s enemies and they have banded together to seek justice. They blame Batman and his fellow vigilantes for what happened to them. It’s an interesting premise that doesn’t quite work as executed here. Why so much focus on Batman’s responsibility? - - none of the Victim Syndicate ever mentions going after the villains. 

   Following on the events of Red Robin’s death, the supporting cast to help Batman include Batwoman, Batwing, Azrael, Clayface Jr., Spoiler, Huntress and an assist from Renee Montoya. The Dream Syndicate are The Mute (victim of Joker’s laughing gas), Madame Crow (Scarecrow’s experimental guinea pig), Mr. Noxious, Mudface (doused with some of Clayface’s chemicals) and the un-named mysterious leader who claims to be an amalgam of everyone ever victimized by Batman’s actions.

   The side dramas are more interesting than the main story, with many characters internalizing recent events and reflecting on their purpose, etc. However, these interrupt the main story for long sections and break the overall flow. A nice learning curve for Tyrion. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#972  CYBLADE / SHI: THE BATTLE FOR INDEPENDENTS #1 with story by Marc Silvestri, William Tucci, Brian Haberlin and David Wohl and pencils by Marc Silvestri (Image, 1995) 

In addition to the two main players, Witchblade also plays a role.

Despite the number of chefs involved here, this is a tasty stew of several “indie” strong female characters. Silvestri’s art is as cluttered but interesting as ever and the colors burst with intensity.

   A covert criminal organization is after Shi, not to kill her but to transform her into a deadly armored samurai. Naturally, she goes after Cyblade. This title was still part of the early days of Image, when superhero titles and art dominated, with most of the storylines regurgitating similar plots. Still, this particular title was “dedicated to all of the independent publishers who battle the odds and fight for their dreams.” 

A noble aim. THREE STARS.

#973  FRANK MILLER PRESENTS ASHCAN EDITION (Frank Miller Presents LLC, 2022) This serves as a neat preview of what readers can expect from the upcoming imprint, at the reasonable price of $1 (although some sellers on eBay are asking crazy prices for this). There’s a nice mission statement from FM about investing in artists and the future of comics. 

    Miller wrote the story and provided layouts (finished by Phillip Tan and inked by Daniel Henriques) for the gorgeous black & white RONIN BOOK II. I’ve never read the original, so I had trouble following this, which introduces a new female main character and refers to the original Ronin. It’s a heady mix of cosmic and philosophical that has me curious to learn more.

     There’s a short text and art preview of PANDORA, a fantasy in full color. The final story is ANCIENT ENEMIES written by Dan Didio (co-founder of FMP) with great art by Danilo Beyruth. Two alien races have been battling for centuries and decide to have one warrior from each side battle it out on a neutral playing field (Earth). Both warriors have been duped by their government and manipulated into a kamikaze mission that will wipe out the opposing civilization. Both warriors object and therein lies the conflict. Will they join together in rebellion or carry on? 

    That is an interesting premise for what could be a good science-fiction comic. However, Didio intends for this conflict to unintentionally become a breeding ground for a new generation of superpowers - - which might muck up the main storyline. Despite my concerns, I’m planning to pick up the first issues of all of these titles. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#974  AVENGERS FOREVER #10 by Jason Aaron and Jim Towe  (Marvel, December 2022) “Stark Repair”. While I’ve been enjoying “The Pillars” series of one-shots featuring alternative characters recruited for the upcoming battle versus the Multiversal Masters Of Evil, I found this to be one of the weaker entries. 

   The recruitment team of Earth-616’s Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes and his flaming car),Tony Stark the Ant-Man of Earth-818, and Deathlok from Avengers Prime have been traveling through various realities in search of new allies and decide they need one final “pillar”(the Avengers building blocks) to complete the team. They need another Tony Stark, but one with Iron Man characteristics. 

   This leads them on a quest through multiple worlds but fails to find the right candidate. All have some flaws, and one commonality: alcoholism. Much is made of this aspect of Stark’s character - - much too much. It gets repetitive and plodding. They end up returning to an earlier candidate who wasn’t perfect enough in his own mind but is persuaded to join. Plus, Ant-Man Stark gets the message and goes into detox. 

   I got the feeling that Aaron has some disrespect for the character of Tony Stark in the overall theme of this issue. You can probably skip this one. The announcement about the final pillar is a bit confusing - - another version of Ghost Rider - - the All-Rider. I like the creativity of Aaron and the artists have been good, but this title is beginning to try my patience. THREE STARS.

#975  THE ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #1 by Nick Spencer and Ramon Rosanas (Marvel, December 2015) The credits page says it all: “Scott Lang is a Miami-area small business owner with a teenage daughter and an ex-wife . . . Oh, and he’s Ant-Man!” One problem here is Spencer doesn’t know when to dispense with the silly humor. Result: even when Lang is in real danger, it doesn’t come off as serious. 

    This is extra-wordy as Spencer throws in all the personal drama in the very first issue. It’s too much, especially when he doesn’t supply a reason why readers should care.

     The art is sub-par. A criminal businessman demonstrates a new app, that rich-enough clients can call up the appropriate villain to take out super-heroes they dislike. So the demonstration is Whirlwind versus Ant-Man. Just when it looks like Ant-Man’s number is up, the client decides the price is too much. So the demonstration ends and Whirlwind exits the site, where Lang was trying to persuade a firm to use his security services. ONE AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#976 - #978  FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #26 by Tom DeFalco and Herb Trimpe (Marvel, June 1993) Remember when super-hero comics were intended to be mostly fun reads? I do, and this took me back. (However, I had to find something from nearly 30 years ago). I had fun reading this. Disposable fun. It doesn’t require a second reading and I don’t need to recall the story details as they are very unlikely (even then) to come back up in a later arc. 

   Tom DeFalco was good at this. Say what you will, he’ll never go down in Marvel history as the scribe of any masterpieces, but he was a reliable writer. You knew what you were getting. 

    This is a solo tale with The Thing and a grown-up Franklin Richards (with psionic powers) from the future running into the menace of Dreadface (absorbs people into his angular pitch-black arms and gets stronger, with enhanced zombification abilities to create mindless slaves)and teaming up with new hero Wildstreak.

Wildstreak is kinda cool, a paralyzed former Olympic gymnast wearing an exoskeleton. THREE STARS.

   There’s a back-up story, “The Riddle Of The Celestials” which attempts to explain their origins and such but ends up with just the  ambiguous riddle. Some cosmic babble from Len Kaminski and Brian Pelletier. TWO STARS.

#979  TIGER DIVISION #1 by Emily Kim and Creees Lee (Marvel, January 2023) The title refers to the name of a new superhero team in South Korea. Led by White Fox, the group includes Taegukgi (powerhouse like Superman), Lady Bright (card-wielding sorceress), Mr. Enigma (street-fighting demigod with Wolverine’s attitude and snappy retorts), The General (a giant totem), Gun-R II (android with an attitude) and Luna Snow (pop star with Iceman-like powers).

   The debut issue spotlights the team members in a non-challenging rescue mission that allows the writer time to introduce them before they get their first tougher assignment, which leads them into a cliff-hanger trap as the issue ends.

    As superhero team books go, this has some appeal as the characters and setting are unfamiliar enough to keep it fresh. I just wanted to see if I liked it enough to keep going. I don’t, but anyone who enjoys New Mutants, Young Avengers, Teen Titans, etc. may appreciate being able to jump on at the beginning. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#980 SECRET INVASION #1 by Ryan North and Francesco Mobili (Marvel, January 2023) Kudos to the creative team here. Being assigned to re-visit the classic SECRET INVASION landscape is no small task. How do you top that one with its’ slow build-up across multiple Marvel titles and then a rapid-fire mini-series once the “secret” of the invasion had been revealed? Also, you’ll need to equal or exceed the story-telling abilities of the original creative team - - Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu. Yeah, right.

     I just had to see what they would do, but I approached this with low expectations. Rather than repeat the past, this initial approach to the theme is on a much smaller scale and becomes an intriguing and suspenseful read because of that. I’m not going to tell too much because that would spoil it. Suffice to say both Maria Hill and Nick Fury are investigating a potential Skrull infiltration and neither one really trusts the other. The opening scene is unpredictable and masterful.  I just might have to pick up Issue #2 to see where this might go. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#981 - #987  SCALPED, VOLUME EIGHT: YOU GOTTA SIN TO GET SAVED graphic novel by Jason Aaron with art by R.M. Guera, Jason LaTour and Davide Furno (DC/Vertigo, 2011)  At this point in the series, you might expect to have a clear idea of where things are going and how some of the many conflicts will be resolved. But with almost every single volume, Aaron adds a new detail or further develops a prior story thread that takes it in unexpected directions. His ability to include so much deep characterization with so many players in this story, to add new elements, and still keep a flow that seems so natural is admirable. This is a masterful work. The only thing I know for certain is that this is not going to end well. 

   Rather than leave a synopsis that those not familiar with this expanding storyline might not be able to follow, or might spoil it for others - - I'm just going to repeat myself and give this the highest recommendation once again. This is gut-wrenching, hear-breaking stuff that will leave your eyes glued to the pages. Wonderfully depicted by a trio of skilled artists. 

     Can it possibly get any better? Every single volume so far says yes, emphatically. Put this series on the highest plateau where it deserves to be, along with other classic examples of the best story-telling in the graphic novel format.  FIVE STARS.

#988  SPAWN #335 by Rory McConville and Carlo Barberi (Image, November 2022) This was one of my impulse buys. This becomes a moment in comic history, as it marks the first “indie” comic series to reach world-record breaking numbers. Achieving 335 issues is quite a milestone. But why did I think I needed to have a copy?

    McConville is working several plot threads. Spawn has been captured and shackled by NYX in an attempt to coerce the location of the “dead zones”, and uses her powers to enter his mind and get the information the hard way. 

   Meanwhile on Omega Island, Sinn invades the land controlled by the clown-like Violator who sends an old foe against him.

   The art by Barberi is interesting, a different style than what is usually seen in this title. THREE STARS.

#989  HELL TO PAY #1 by Charles Soule and Will Sliney (Image, November 2022) A full review of this book was posted to the blog for Monday, November 14. FIVE STARS.