This marks the third consecutive year that I will attempt to document my comics reading by writing at least a mini-review. The goal is 1200 books read and reviewed in 2023, although I missed the mark in 2022 by 88 books. Still, I like that number as it’s easy enough to track - - - 100 books per month on average. Wish me luck!
# GOAL FOR August 31, 2023. . . 800 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 616 comics documented
#582 - #587 303 Trade Paperback by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows (Avatar Press, 2007) Known for his heavily researched and gripping World War II comics, Garth Ennis deals with more modern warfare here, specifically the war in Afghanistan. An American warplane crashes and Russian special forces and their British counterparts race each other across the craggy Afghan landscape to discover the secrets that may be found within the plane. Ennis focuses on a Russian Colonel leading his men to battle.
It's brutal and graphic and a simple story, but only on the surface. Ennis has a way of probing into his characters and their point-of-view/mindset, and the Colonel is war-weary and discouraged by the younger members of his force who seem to have lost their smarts as well as dedication to the mission. There's also a deeper undercurrent to the tale concerning the atrocities of war, and the willingness of governments to give perceived gains a higher priority than the lives of their expendable ground forces.
The second part of the story occurs in the United States where the Colonel, the ultimate soldier, has illegally immigrated and learns of corporate atrocities in the name of profits as southwestern immigrants are subjected to horrific working conditions in a slaughterhouse. Ennis introduces another character, a local sheriff (also an ultimate soldier) who's also weary of a government and a town that expects him to look the other way. When the two ultimate soldiers confront each other, sparks begin to fly. While the story can be broken down into its simple parts, it leaves a message behind that readers may be thinking of long after the final pages are read. FOUR STARS.
#588 - #593 BATMAN: THE IMPOSTER #1 - #3 of 3 by Mattson Tomlin and Andrea Sorrentino (DC Comics/Black Label, December 2021 - February 2022)
Synopsis from the Goodreads website:
Bruce Wayne’s mission as the Batman has only been underway for a year or so, but he can tell he’s making a difference in this city. Unfortunately, he’s made some powerful enemies–and not just among the colorful maniacs called “super-villains.” All the traditional power brokers of Gotham resent the disruption the Batman has brought to town… and it seems one of them has a plan to neutralize him. There’s a second Batman haunting Gotham’s rooftops and alleys–and this one has no qualms about murdering criminals, live and on tape. With the entire might of the Gotham City Police Department and Gotham’s rich and powerful coming down on his head, Batman must find this imposter and somehow clear his name…but how can you prove your innocence from behind a mask?
My Thoughts: This was dark and gritty and contemplative - - and I loved it. Writer Tomlin makes some subtle changes to the Gotham landscape in a story of the early years of Bruce Wayne as Batman. Alfred is gone (he bailed out early due to an uncooperative young Bruce) and Bruce Wayne/Batman is a true loner, except for his psycho-therapist, Dr. Leslie Tompkins, to whom he's revealed his secret identity. Tompkins is a strong and important character, as well as Detective Blair Wong. Jim Gordon is already out of the picture, a disgraced former police officer.
The story provides an engaging mystery as Wong and Bruce Wayne, as well as Wong and Batman, try to find the imposter committing murders and disgracing the reputation of Batman.
Tomlin is a professional screenwriter and artist Sorrentino employs a dark photo-realistic style that really shines when the scenes require an absence of dialogue. This story seems well-suited to be a possible sequel to the recent THE BATMAN movie. A lot of the work is already done, in the form of the three story-boarded issues that make up BATMAN: THE IMPOSTER. Well done. FOUR STARS.
#594 - #597 SPECS #1 - #4 by David M. Booher and Chris Shehan (Boom! Studios, November 2022 - February 2023) While I read so many novels compared to short stories and novellas, I have to admit that nothing beats a well-told short story: an engaging tale that makes its points and wraps up concisely, that can be read in one day or at one sitting. SPECS gets the job done in four issues. This is the kind of school-age memoir that Stephen King does so well (Stand By Me, It, Mr. Harrington’s Phone, etc) mixing a bit of nostalgia along with the horror and Twilight Zone-like twists.
On the surface, SPECS is a recollection of a 1987 high school year with Kenny and his best friend Ted, the only black youth in small town Summerton, Ohio. Booher knows how to sell the story as well as create memorable characters. He has a knack for writing realistic dialogue and setting up compelling scenes. The story is strongest in the first half. The art of Shehan is kind of minimalist but quite effective as it helps move the story along.
The story is told as a recollection thirty-years later by Kenny, who is still troubled by what happened in 1987: “Three and a half decades is plenty of time to strip the flesh off those memories and grind their bones to dust . . . . This story? It’s about wishes. The ones we make. The ones we don’t.”
Kenny discovers a box of older brother Zack’s comic books, and he and Ted speculate with amusement over an advertisement for “Magic Specs” that grant wishes. Soon after, a package with the gadget arrives at Kenny’s doorstop in the middle of the night.
Sure enough, as long as the wishes are small-scale, they are granted for both friends. They learn how to manage that to their advantage until one day, when a confrontation prompts a regrettable wish in the heat of the moment.
After a violent confrontation with Skunk (the school bully) Ted uses the glasses to wish him away. But to where? Kenny and Ted argue and debate about what to do when Skunk doesn’t show up. A missing persons investigation begins with Ted as the prime suspect.
As the story implied earlier, it’s about what Kenny and Ted do and don’t do, as events take an unexpected turn. There’s a supernatural encounter by Kenny that could have been explored further but works effectively to build the mystery and doesn’t detract from the main story. Booher could easily have turned the direction of this book into a full-blown horror tale but that would have ruined the nostalgic memory that is the heart of this series. There’s so much more underneath, a secondary story of prejudice and racism in a small town and suppressed feelings of homosexual love.
The final issue doesn’t end as expected and is bittersweet but serves as a satisfactory concluding event. It’s about what we don’t do. FOUR STARS.
#598 - #603 UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, VOLUME ONE: DESTINY by Scott Snyder and Charles Soule with art by Guiseppe Camuncoli (Image Comics, 2019-2020) Collects Issues #1 - #6
Writers Scott Snyder and Charles Soule collaborate on a wild world-building adventure and unintentionally make it timely and relevant to some of the things happening in our own crazy world.
They are only getting started, as this is just the first story arc and there are so many more divided areas of an isolationist United States to explore. I really love what they have done here, and wonder how long they can keep it going before it gets stale, if ever. As long as artist Guiseppe Camuncoli is involved to give life to their creations it's going to remain interesting to me. The illustrations are stunning, with appropriate panel placement and sizing.
A future United States goes full-on isolationist, and erects a giant wall along all of it's borders as well as a barrier defense to entry. The story takes place 30 years later, as two factions vie for dominance on the rest of the planet. An uneasy partnership forms between the Alliance Euro-Afrique and the Pan-Asia Prosperity Zone when the "Sky" virus/pandemic becomes a larger threat to life. (UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY in its’ initial single issue monthly series was released during 2020 just as the pandemic/shutdown was beginning).
An invite goes out to a select group of individual to visit the United States to receive a cure for the virus. The team's airship is shot down just as it enters the Western United States, and some of the members become separated - - involved in a struggle for a key to enter another walled off section of the U.S. between a hippie version of Uncle Sam and a warlord named the Destiny Man. Betrayal. Hidden agendas. Conflicting objectives. Crazy steam-punk like repurposing of old machines and tech. Monsters. It's all here.
The cast of characters is equally engaging and intriguing. I could go on and praise this more, but think I'll save some accolades for the next volume. FIVE STARS.
#604 - #609 UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #7 - #12 by Scott Snyder and Charles Soule with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli (Image Comics, August 2020 - February 2021 )
I continue to be impressed with this title. The world-building, character development and slowly revealing backstories, the history of the land (a futuristic, isolated and divided United States), the imaginative areas and creatures - - - everything is well-conceived and carried out.
THE SEALING: In July 2029, the United States completely removes itself from the world stage and closes its borders. The perimeter is walled off. An “Airshield” force barrier prevents flyovers. Electromagnetic shielding prevents surveillance. The state borders of “Fortress America” are redrawn, dividing the U.S. into thirteen zones each with their own laws, industry, etc. and attracting residents based on beliefs and practices.
Six years out and zones begin accusing each other of hoarding resources, not acting on behalf of all, and conflicts arise. By Year Ten more walls are erected, completely isolating each zone from one another. The thirteen zones evolve even further, fully embracing the divergent values that attracted them.
DESTINY: In the first story arc, the group of seven visitors are trapped within the Destiny Zone (roughly the Southwestern United States), ruled over by an authoritarian warlord (Destiny Man) using slavery and torture to force his subjects to submit to his territorial ambitions. They find the artifact/key (golden railroad spike) that allows them egress through the wall into the next zone.
UNITY: In this second story arc, the Unity Zone is explored (roughly the Pacific Northwest encompassing the technology/silicon valley corridor). Unity is yet another strange land full of incredible sights and creatures, best explained by its matriarch Jain: “Unity is about working together. Everyone using their strength as they can, acting in concert . . . . . Before The Sealing this nation was split into a thousand factions. The American Polity could be summed up in a single word: Division. . . . We found so many reasons to hate, many of our political choices came down to simply making sure the other side lost. . . . . If loss is your goal, then no one ever wins. Society stagnates, and, eventually collapses . . . . My technology beat that cycle. Stomped that curve flat. Our goal here is advancement - - but no one’s dream should come at the expense of another’s . . . and we did it.”
What shattered that dream was the discovery during exploration of Unity by Ace Kenyatta (American history expert) and Valentina Sandoval (journalist and truth-seeker) of what powers the Zone. (Sorry, no spoilers.)
Destiny Man followed the group into Unity and war is on with disastrous results as the story arc ends. The group escape into another Zone using Unity’s key, a first-generation iPod. “Weird Science” by Oingo Bongo is the combination - - I love that little detail.
Another great volume to this epic. My only concern is that this could become, like the former LOST television series, too much of a good thing - - where writers kept adding different side stories and settings and then struggled to bring it together and keep it within the overall continuity. The fact that Snyder and Soule mention in the text pieces that LOST was an inspiration for the series is a reason for concern. However, they also mentioned that they have previously plotted the ending and know how this wraps up. So, until they go down the wrong rabbit hole I’m going to continue following and enjoying this series. FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#610 - #615 UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #13 - #18 by Scott Snyder & Charles Soule with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli (Image Comics, June 2021 - January 2022) The intrepid band exploring future isolationist America find themselves in the Possibility Zone, where creativity rules. It’s sort of a tribute to American popular culture of the past, with musical references that go way back to the jazz and rhythm and blues era, superhero comics of the golden age, and American legendary icons like Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett, Johnny Appleseed, etc. . . . oh, and pirate ships as the world is mainly run by robots (since the humans ran out of ideas and creativity) dying for a spark of something new. Also, most of the Zone is underwater so these little pockets of nostalgia exist on several islands.
With this third story arc, I find UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY getting off the rails a bit, playing around a bit too much, and substituting a light-hearted tone for the urgency and drama that kept the first two arcs engaging. In places I found myself becoming bored. If it stays in this vein in future installments, I’m jumping off this train.
To be fair, Snyder and Soule still advance the story and include some new reveals about the USA, the Destiny Man, and the Aurora artificial intelligence that oversees everything and seems to make sure the zones don’t stray from the minimal essentials. Several of the characters get more of a spotlight and there is some interesting back-story/history. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#616 ABE SAPIEN #21 Story by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie with art by Sebastian Fiumara (Dark Horse Comics, March 2015) The highlight here for me is the eye-popping art of Fiumara, like an appealing hybrid of Frank Quitely and Geoff Darrow. Wow. I jumped into this one mid-point in the story but the synopsis helped me catch up.
SYNOPSIS: Born in 1942 Lake Charles, Louisiana, ARBOGAST has lived in every state on the Gulf Coast from Florida to Tamaulipas, Mexico and outlived three wives while producing no children. His last wife died in her hometown of Burnham, Texas where the two met in 1999. Since 2010, he’s recruited young people into a secret cult, under a veil of Haitian voodoo . . . .
The crazed Arbogast, in Jim Jones fashion, poisons his followers, and utilizes their essence along with some weird wax and his own blood to bring about his “Rapture”, reanimating the dead into his zombie servants in a ritual involving drums.
When the youngest member of Abe’s party, Megan, almost gets caught by the rambling zombies the amphibious-like Abe has to step in and fight for his life. Plenty of gore in this story, which really didn’t grab me, but it sure served as a great showcase for Fiumara’s art. THREE STARS.
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