For those that are late to the party, we here at Multiversity are trying a new approach to our weekly reviews. From now on, rather than having one big post containing every single review, we will split the reviews into separate posts by each reviewer. Sounds good, right? If so, it was my idea. If you think it’s dumb, it was Matt’s idea (honestly, though, I forget whose idea it was). The grading scale, however, is the same as always:
0: Uwe Boll will direct the adaptation of this comic
0.1 – 1: Burn upon touching
1- 1.9: Abysmal
2.0 – 2.9: Art. Writing. Editing. All bad.
3.0 – 3.9: You’d be a masochist to pick this up.
4.0 – 4.9: “I’ll give it another month…but that was not good.”
5.0 – 5.9: “Really? The Watcher? In the face? I guess it was fun.”
6.0 – 6.9: “Hmm. That was decent.”
7.0 – 7.9: Well made but a few problems
8.0 – 8.9: Nearly flawless
9.0 – 9.9: Outstanding
10: Perfection. Issue of the year contender
So what did I think of Superman #700, Secret Warriors #17, Legion of Superheroes #2 and Detective Comics #866? Follow the jump to find out!
The second of three centennial issues for DC in the month of June, Superman #700 returns to the standard landmark issue format of having multiple smaller stories make up the larger issue, rather than having one large story take up the whole thing like Batman #700 did. The difference is, unlike other centennial issues, all of these are good.
The issue starts with James Robinson tying up the last unresolved issue from the whole New Krypton Saga: that of Clark and Lois’ relationship. I’ve already raved about how much I’ve enjoyed Robinson’s work on Superman, and this was definitely a great way to wrap it up. The emotion that Robinson puts into the characters is truly heartfelt, making Clark and Lois’ love seem much more real than it is fictional. Benard Chang’s art is great, and perfectly complements the mood that Robinson sets. Of the three stories, this was probably my favorite, as I’m a sap for a well written romance.
I know I was really harsh on Dan Jurgen’s run on Booster Gold a while ago, but the short story he contributed to this issue was definitely more of a hit than a miss. It was nothing special, but it was just a fun little one-and-done, which is something I feel every centennial issue needs. It seemed a little more Batman-family-centric than Superman, but not so much to make the reader think “Why is this in a Superman issue?” All in all, this was enjoyable, even if it didn’t particularly stimulate the brain.
Last on the list was a prelude to JMS’ upcoming arc, “Grounded.” The point of this seemed to partially be so those who have been reading Superman (as you should have been) could get a sort of transition to the next arc while leaving JMS’ “official” start at #701 open enough for new readers to jump in. While the whole theme of Superman not being able to save everyone has been used plenty of times before (Hitman #34, anyone?), I’m sure the overall theme of this arc will be much grander than that, and I can’t wait to see what one of my favorite writers has in store.
Final Verdict: 8.4 – Buy it!
Secret Warriors #17
Now this is what I’m talking about. The thing that I love about Jonathan Hickman’s Marvel work is that while, yes, the characters are superhuman in nature, I would call his mainstream comics many things before I would call them superhero comics (as a note, this is one way of the many ways to improve superhero comics). Combine that with how damn intelligent the man is, and you have a name whose work I will always buy up.
I had a couple of scruples with the previous issue, but this one seems to be of the quality that I’m used to from Hickman. This issue starts a new arc, and everything you would want in the first part of an arc is present in this issue. Backstory? Check. Tension out the wazoo? Check. A good cliffhanger? Big check. One thing I will forever love about Hickman is how he makes bureaucracy not only interesting, but maddeningly intense. This story looks like it is going to be a great one, and even if you haven’t been reading the title it seems like new readers will have a simple enough time with jumping on.
One thing I would to talk about is “The Captain America Moment.” It seems that even if a writer doesn’t write the title Captain America itself, if he/she does a lot of work with Marvel then he/she will have that one moment where they get to write Captain America saying something inspiring. When it fails, it can be pretty terrible. But when the writer gets it right… well, just read JMS’ Amazing Spider-Man #537. Hickman got that chance in this issue, and he absolutely gave it the justice it deserved. You can bet that you will be seeing that page in any future “Awesome Captain America Moments” discussions across the internet in the future.
Final Verdict: 8.6 – Buy it!
Detective Comics #866
Another landmark issue for DC, Detective Comics #866 marks the 75th anniversary of the title and therefore the 75th anniversary of DC Comics itself (so it’s, you know, Detective Comics Comics). And who better to write such an important issue than one of the most influential writers in the medium, Dennis O’Neil?
This issue focuses on an unresolved case from back when Dick Grayson was Robin which Dick has revisited as Batman many years later (kind of like Batman #700, but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence). As to be expected, there’s nothing incredible about this, but it’s a nice little story with some references to various things that O’Neil had his hand in back in the day.
In particular, I really enjoyed the art in this issue. I will buy almost anything with Dustin Nguyen’s art in it, and in this issue he failed to disappoint. I rarely see Nguyen’s name pop up in favorite artist discussions, which is a real shame considering his incredible work. In this issue he gives us two interestingly contrasting styles, from his normal method to one which is highly influenced by the Animated Series without mimicking it.
Overall, this was a good read, but if you’ve never been into older comics I would give it a browse before buying, as O’Neil’s narrative somewhat shows his age. That’s no problem for me though, as a big fan of O’Neil, so this issue gets a thumbs up from me.
Final Verdict: 7.9 – Buy it!
Legion of Super-Heroes #2
This continues to be one of those books that skirts that borderline of good enough to buy or not. If you’re interested in the characters, like I am, you’ll probably continue to buy this title (hopefully after you purchase all your excellent small press titles, right?), and if you don’t really care about the Legion then it’s likely that you won’t be picking this one up. Nothing wrong with that.
I was much more interested in the story concerning Earth Man than that involving the Legion out in space. Saturn Queen’s appearance just seemed very abrupt, considering nothing was done to introduce her. While the previous issue seemed like a great intro to the Legion, especially considering the sizable cast, this one seemed to rely too much on prior knowledge of the characters. I suppose that is always a problem with serialized fiction on this scale, but it is still something that needs to be addressed.
Yildiray Cinar does a very good job on the artistic duties for this issue. Cinar is one of those artists who isn’t mind blowing, but still puts out good quality work with little error. The coloring in this issue in particular is spectacular, as it can be difficult to do a comic with such a colorful cast without it being visually obnoxious. A massive kudos to the Hi-Fi Design studio is in order.
Much like with O’Neil, Levitz definitely has a narrative style that hearkens to his entrance into the industry back in the 70’s. While this is no big deal for a one-shot like O’Neil’s, it can be hard to get an ongoing to go strong in today’s modern industry with such a style. I hope the title will be going strong for a while longer, but you can’t (and shouldn’t) force people to buy what they don’t like.
Final Verdict: 7.3 – Buy it if you’re a Legion fan.
