There is a lot to cover on Wednesdays. We should know, as collectively, we read an insane amount of comics. Even with a large review staff, it’s hard to get to everything. With that in mind, we’re back with Wrapping Wednesday, where we look at some of the books we missed in what was another great week of comics.
Let’s get this party started.
Action Comics #31
Written by Greg Pak
Illustrated by Aaron Kuder, Rafa Sandoval, and Cameron Stewart
Reviewed by Brian Salvatore
“Superman: Doomed” started this week, with three issues dropping that all were part of the crossover. Zach covered the starting bell and, unsurprisingly, that is the most coherent of the three books released this week. Not the best, mind you, but the most coherent. This book, “Action Comics,” is the most enjoyable and best produced of the bunch, even if it feels like a different book than what “Superman: Doomed” #1 was building.
Pak’s Superman is the most in line with the classic interpretation of the character, and this issue does a great job of showing who Superman is versus what the Doomsday virus is tempting him to be. Through the use of day-dreams/halucinations, when Superman actually starts to feel the effects of the virus, we expect that we’re still seeing something that isn’t really happening. The jarring return to reality is an effective device that stays in line with what “Action” has been since Pak and Kuder took over.
My biggest complaint with this issue is the three artists who worked on it. The problem isn’t in their talent level; in fact, they are three of the finest artists working today (especially Stewart and Kuder). In fact, my first pass through a book I usually read for the story, and then go back and study the art more carefully, and on first read, the change in artists wasn’t unpleasant; however, once I went back for subsequent readings, it became much more clear where the seams are, and the overall tone of the book suffers from having too many cooks in the kitchen.
But overall, this is probably the best “Doomed” is going to get, and luckily, the issue doesn’t feature a huge drop off from where the book usually is; we still get some great Lana interactions, and Pak’s voice rings through. As I mentioned earlier, this doesn’t exactly feel like a direct continuation of the first issue of the crossover, but it does work.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy (or avoid if you don’t want to collect the entire “Doomed” crossover and don’t mind a hole in your “Action” run)
All-New Ghost Rider #3
Written by Felipe Smith
Illustrated by Tradd Moore
Reviewed by Walter Richardson
I don’t know about you, but I love a good Faustian bargain. It has become one of the most common tropes around, particularly in fantasy and science fiction, but when it’s done well, I grin like an idiot. And the best part of the bargain is usually the dialogue when the deal is struck. So it is with “All-New Ghost Rider” #3. Felipe Smith’s take on the classic “you know you want” “I don’t want it” “come on bro” back-and-forth is one of my favorites to read, mixing classical dramatics with modern, realistic parlance. When you can take a centuries-old conversation and make it fresh, you’ve done good work. Beyond that, the issue is rather typical in terms of the writing, stuck in a particular plot beat that can hardly be avoided in an origin story. While it remains to be seen whether this story will be unique and refreshing, at least Smith demonstrates in the first pages that, even if it is a bit standard, he knows these standards well and can riff on them like an accomplished jazz musician.
I have wanted to see Tradd Moore have a successful career since the first time I read “The Strange Talent of Luther Strode,” and I am glad to see him on a Marvel book so early in his published career. The unique style and exciting layouts that first caught my attention are in full effect here and, for the most part, are of a higher caliber. The pages where Grumpy’s place is shot up and when Robbie tears Grumpy’s goons out of the car are dynamite in the form of ink, displaying Moore’s knack for creatively constructing a page while making sure the storytelling is still on point. Each page is alive with energy, even during the “quieter” parts, such as Robbie’s discussion with Mr. Wakeford. My only complaint is that as Moore has become busier, his “bendy” limbs have occasionally strayed past the point of effective stylization and into the realm of the distracting (see Grumpy’s emergence in the final page for an example). Otherwise, this issue’s art is so on fire that you can probably work out this terrible analogy yourself.
Continued belowFinal Verdict: 7.8 – Buy it!
New Avengers #18
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Illustrated by Valerio Schiti
Reviewed by James Johnston
I mentioned in my “Avengers” #29 review earlier today how the main problem with the Hickman “Mega-Avengers” arc is the lack of conclusion to anything, how threads and story lines just sort of show up and disappear throughout the whole run. With “New Avengers” #18, the same criticism can still be applied but there’s still a lot to look for here. The idea of creating a faux Justice League for The Illuminati is interesting given it’s a complete reverse of how similar pastiches like The Squadron Supreme were completely evil. Here though, they’re better; an ideal that The Illuminati should strive for but instead will destroy. Schiti’s art is remarkably different from the typical doom and gloom that lurks in most issues of “New Avengers” and it definitely helps liven up the book from becoming too dreary to read. In fact, his clearer art paves the way for the pastiche JLA to bring hope and light into the world of the Illuminati, though they themselves will most likely seek to snuff it out.
Final Verdict: 6.8 – Tradewait. Like I said with “Avengers”, this is going to be a great collection but in floppy format it’s a little overwhelming.
Nightcrawler #2
Written by Chris Claremont
Illustrated by Todd Nauck
Reviewed by Brandon Burpee
First and foremost I LOVE the cover by Jamie McKelvie! Reading it digitally the pink BAMF and Nightcrawler absolutely feel as if they are porting straight out of my iPad. It’s a cover that I am sure stood out on the shelves, as well, which is precisely what you want from a cover. If it catches the eye of a reader it has succeeded. This cover does that and more. This is one my favorite covers, bar none.
Getting into the issue itself, though, I found myself less enthused. While I loved the first issue and the way writer Chris Claremont and artist Todd Nauck reintroduced our titular hero, this issue just didn’t bring me the same joy. Nightcrawler is handled with impeccable skill, but the characters surrounding him, aside from Amanda Sefton and the retelling of their shared history, felt cliche and forgettable in the worst way. This is not what you want from characters who take up a large portion of the story.
Nauck’s art was on par with last issue’s and this is the saving grace for the issue. His art is clean and dynamic during the fisticuffs. Without the flare he added to this issue the entire thing might have been for naught. I mean does this guy draw a perfect Nightcrawler or what?!
In the end I gotta say the issue was a step down from last issue but I still think the title remains something worth sticking with. Maybe I just don’t like when the X-Men meet the circus. I know I wasn’t a fan when this occurred last time.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – A step down but don’t step out just yet.
Superman/Wonder Woman #8
Written by Charles Soule
Illustrated by Tony Daniel
Reviewed by Brian Salvatore
The third piece of “Doomed” is a very frustrating one. The story, although following “Action Comics” #31, doesn’t reference anything about that issue (outside of a Lois connection), and shows a Superman who seems to have changed an incongruous amount in between issues. Not only that, but this issue reads like a “Many Loves of Clark Kent” story, with Diana, Lois, Kat, and Bruce all talking about him, but we get very little Clark himself. This is a problem, because Soule’s Wonder Woman is relatively true to the way she’s presented elsewhere in this crossover, but his Batman and his Lois don’t really match up so well.
It isn’t until the very end of the issue that we see a more human, pardon the term, Clark, and by then, this issue has been so bogged down in dull, that we almost didn’t notice he’s back. Tony Daniel’s art isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but he does a nice job here, attempting to make a dull script more interesting, and more or less succeeds. I also really enjoyed his Doomsday’d Clark, as he had a truly Clark-ish face underneath all the rock and disfiguration.
But I still don’t know why Clark has, essentially, a Superman cake-topper attached to his chest.
Final Verdict: 5.1 – Browse, or buy if you’re a crossover completionist.
