Some Comic Debuts of Interest Part 1--Rant Reviews!

Some Fresh Comics
I just recently had a post discussing how I don't just talk about the brand-new comics. That said, let's talk about some series that have debuted, because I am nothing if not inconsistent (try and figure out that triple negative)!

The New Stuff
Black Panther #1
This comic has been hyped so much by Marvel it is hard to separate the excitement and expectations people may have from the comic itself. As for the actual comic? It is a perfectly good first issue by Ta-Nehisi Coates, someone new to writing comics but not at all new to writing in general. Brian Stelfreeze is of course a tremendous artist so the book isn't slacking in the department of gorgeous visuals. Still, Coates is clearly setting a lot of ground-work in this issue for a story about people plotting to otherthrow the Black Panther's rule of his kingdom, and as the story proceeds I bet a lot of the story-seeds being planted will bloom wonderfully. As it is now though, this is just--as I said--a perfectly good first issue story-wise that is amazing art-wise. I'll be eagerly following this to see where it goes.
3 out of 5 stars.

Circuit Breaker #1
Speaking of comics that boast people with amazing drawing-talent, "Circuit Breaker," has the awesome Kyle Baker providing some incredible artwork. Sadly, the plot of the comic itself is an utter mess that isn't sure if it is going for funny, serious, thoughtful, or really any semblance of logic. Kevin McCarthy has an amazing collaborator in the form of Baker and its a shame the awesome robots that get drawn don't have a better story to compliment them. If you pick this up, don't bother reading the word balloons, just ogle the impressive illustrations.
1.5 out of 5 stars--Plot and Story
5 out of 5 stars--Artwork

Empress #1
Well, besides the fantastic art by Stuart Immomen this is a wholly unremarkable comic. Much like the just-reviewed, "Circuit-Breaker," this comic has writer Mark Millar giving us a relatively straightforward take on a Queen escaping from her drunk-with-power husband. The whole issue is her and the kids escaping, along with a brief look at the past when she first fell in love. It feels really decompressed, like if this were a two-hour movie we would have just seen maybe the first five minutes. Millar has a lot of hits and misses, and whether the comic shows more depth or just sucks as the issues proceed it'll probably bring him some more millions of dollar once it gets optioned for a movie regardless of its quality. This was a book that could be easily passed-over by a reader looking for something better though.
2 out of 5 stars.

The Fix #1
Damn, do Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber make a great team or what? "The Superior Foes of Spider-Man," was excellent and now we've got a new series from them featuring two guys always looking for a way to score some cash whilst balancing their criminal activities with a day job of (spoiler alert)  being police officers. The solicitations for the comic actually hid quite well the twist that these guys are supposedly upstanding officers who scam and cheat the system, but reading that twist just made me guffaw loudly while walking on the treadmill at the gym (yes, I read my comics while exercising, and my balance has so far been fine). From just its first issue I can already tell this book is a winner, and should you like some, "Funny," in your funnybooks you've got to pick this up too.
5 out of 5 stars.

More in a Little Bit
There are some rant-reviews on new titles, I'll be back shortly with a few more.

Let's Review Some DC Comic's "Elseworlds" Collections For No Reason Other Than I Feel Like It

You know what might be fun? Reviewing some of those "DC Comics Presents," books, focusing on three that deal with Elseworlds tales/stories out of continuity.

Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham

The new release has, "DC Comics Presents " plastered across the top.

I like Doug Moench a lot when it comes to his work on Moon Knight. Those early issues by him that I've read in some Marvel Essential's collections are phenomenal stuff (and even cooler in the black-and-white in the manner Essentials collections are printed as). This comic is about a world where Catwoman is a crime-fighter and a mysterious Batman shows up and starts committing crimes. It is not Moench's best work, but is perfectly passable. Jim Balent does his usual style--meaning we get females drawn in a cheesecake fashion (which is meh) and intriguing panel layouts. Yes, Balent may make his females look wayyyyy over-sexualized, but the man has a masterful grasp of the page and how to present art. Just look at how these panels are split up:

Yeah, both females have highly exaggerated breasts, but the way the thrown ring is shown, and Catwoman bursts through the window...it's striking. I often wonder how good a comic we could get if we took an artist who wasn't as over-the-top but paired him with Balent when it came to page break-downs.

The idea of a heroic Catwoman with all the sexiness in the comic turned up to the maximum level allowable in a non-mature-readers-way is cute and all, but the whole thing with Batman being evil, marrying her, and then suddenly deciding to kill her because he knows her secret identity but she doesn't know his is all done in an obvious way that's more dull than silly. I still enjoyed this more than a fair amount of other comics out there though, so it's all good. Whether that says this is actually quite good or too many of today's comics are terrible...I don't know.
3 out of 5 stars.

Batman: Gotham Noir

This too has "DC Comics Presents" across the top, kind of ruining the dark tone.

Let's review something else with Batman. Why? Well, because I feel like doing so, and this is no ordinary Batman comic. Yes, this has the amazing team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips--the dynamic duo behind such masterworks as, "Sleeper," "Criminal," "Incognito," and, "Fatale." They do a lot of stuff together, because they seem so in-sync that any story they work on is just great.

This story is basically about a good cop in the form of Jim Gordon solving a mystery while a strange man who seems inhuman, almost as if a bat, creeps around the edges of the story, affecting change where needed. This is really a story about Gordon that features Batman on the periphery, but when ol' Batty does appear he seems so intimidating and scary that the minimal use of him in the story is highly effective. Plus Batman is drawn in such a weird way, it's frightening.

This is by not as amazing as some of Brubaker and Philips other work, but still greatly enjoyable and definitely worth a read.
4 out of 5 stars.

Elseworlds 100-Page Spectacular

This collects a variety of fun and short Elseworld's tales including one that was controversial in DC's eyes some years ago about young Superman being babysat and causing all sorts of trouble. Apparently DC wasn't too big on a baby in a microwave--even if the rays couldn't hurt him. There is that fun story though, a cute, "Behind the Music" type bit, a Paul Pope Batman in WWII, and other good stuff. The only story I really hated was, "Dark Knight of the Golden Kingdom," which has pretty art by Ariel Olivetti (and its drawn, not his current painted-style!) but the most stupid story ever that tries to be all dramatic but comes of as just...lame. Oh well, they can't all be winners, and I did love that baby-Superman.

I enjoyed this collection, even if the stories could be hit-and-miss. It was still mostly an entertaining read however, and as I am always a fan of Elseworld's stuff you know I can't be too upset to get 100 pages of alternate-universe goodness.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

There we go, get to reading!

Rant-Reviews--Fantomex, Composite Hulks, Thunderbolts, and a Female Taskmaster.

Fantomex fights Deathloks for a miniaturized science-world, The Thunderbolts fight monsters and Hyperion, Hulk fights his literal opposite named Kluh, and the "Max" version of Deadpool fights a pseudo-oedipal complex. This is a weird batch of comics.

Essay in Honor of Black History Month on the Sad State of Racial Diversity in Comics

A Good Blog to Read is Black Comix

We're past the half-way mark of February, meaning we are also halfway through Black History Month, and I have yet to make a post on the topic. It isn't just because 4thletter does such a good job, nor is it due to some complex reason. I just couldn't think of anything to write about Black History Month in regards to the main subject I write about on this blog--comics. Why? One image got stuck in my head.

Rant-Reviews--Wait, didn't I just review comics with Wolverine, Deadpool, and X-Factor?

No, your eyes aren't tricking you, I am indeed reviewing comics featuring characters who pop up a bunch--Wolverine and Deadpool (in this case the Max version)--or a comic that happened to come out twice this month--X-Factor. Does more=good? Let's find out...

That was a letdown--Prelude to Deadpool Corps.

Prelude to Deadpool Corps
I will now review the mini-series that led into the series (which is canceled with issue 12 so I guess it was a maxi-series). 5 different artists, 5 different issues, Victor Gischler from Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth on the story. That was decent, so this can't be too bad, right? Well, "Bad" is a strong word...

The complete collection of "Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth" titled "Head Trip," shall now be reviewed.

Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth--Head Trip
It's the complete maxi-series, "Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth," how potentially exciting! I don't know the main series artist (Bong Dazo?), have never heard of Victor Gischler (double-negative alert), and only know Deadpool meets his zombie head from the cover of the comic. Was this any good? Let's read on...