Fantastic Four #5

Writer:  Matt Fraction
Penciller:  Mark Bagley
Inker:  Mark Farmer

It did not take the Fraction/Bagley team long to settle in on this title.  Fraction started the series with the Four and Franklin and Valeria going exploring.  By taking them out of the Marvel Universe, it lets him focus on the family dynamics.  Fraction is doing a great job with the Reed-Sue relationship.  This issue had an interesting main story that centered about a trip through time to visit Rome during the final days of Julius Caesar.  Since this is the world of comics, it involves an alien explorer from the future and trying to prevent changes to the timeline.  It ends with a twist that appears to flow into the FF book.  Reading this reminds me, in spirit, of the John Byrne days of the Fantastic Four.  Byrne tried to make them more explorers and family oriented and less with the super-villains.  After Hickman’s epic run, I was afraid this title would not be as strong.  Fraction (with Bagley’s assistance) has kept the quality up without trying to imitate Hickman’s storytelling.  It is still a very good title.

The Return of Comic Book Focus

Cover by Neal Adams

After taking time off from this blog, I decided it is time to bring it back.  From time to time I will post great covers from the past (like the one above).  In the near future, you will see regular reviews of the comics I am reading.  It will be a mixture of new and old comics.

August 2012

Inspired by the format of Critical Mass, I have decided to post very short reviews of the comics I read each month.

8/16

AVENGERS ACADEMY #35:  Gage continues to ramp up the excitement in part 2 of “Final Exam”.    Grummett did not do the art this time.  I know I saw where Gage is working on some creator owned book.  Hopefully, DC will pick him up.  They have not announced the new writers for ACTION COMICS and GREEN LANTERN.  I would be happy if he picked both of them up.

GREEN LANTERN #12:  Johns is in the home stretch on this series.  Most of this issue is the battle with Hal & Sinestro on the good side fighting against the Black Hand and the Black Lanterns.  I am very curious how Johns is going to handle the last page revelation.  One of the side bars of this issue is the revelation that the Guardians have been orchestrating the events in the lives of the big players in the Lantern Corps.  They played them like chess pieces to have them in the place where they would be easiest to defeat.  Now the Guardians are making their move to take them out of action.  I am not sure if the last page reveal is part of their plan or an event that will disrupt the Guardians master plan.  When you think about it, Johns has set up one of the great cosmic epics in the history of comics.  Events like THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR, BLACKEST NIGHT, BRIGHTEST DAY, and the WAR OF THE CORPS was all set up that has built up to this event.  All along the way, Johns has shown in the stories that “the big event” was coming.  When he is finished with GREEN LANTERN, I plan on going back and re-reading the entire epic. This has been Johns magnum opus.

8/15

AVENGERS ACADEMY:  Despite Marvel’s claims to the contrary, they have now announced that “Final Exam” is the final arc of AVENGERS ACADEMY.  Issue 39 will be the last one.  So far, I have not heard Gage’s name mentioned on any of the MARVEL NOW books.  Hopefully he gets a new title soon.  I read the first chapter of “Final Exam” last night.  It was kind of like reading an issue of THE WALKING DEAD.  Everything seemed to be going great then it all took a turn for the worst.  The combination of great writing and art will make this a classic story to end the series on.  I loved how Gage used a character to make fun of big event superhero battles.

8/13

CAPTAIN AMERICA #15:  This issue is a little bit of a letdown, partially due to the art.  When you switch from Patrick Zircher to Scott Eaton/Rick Magyar it is a step down.  The art is okay but does not make you stop and stare like Zircher’s.  The other disappointing part was Brubaker brought in Cullen Bunn to help with the story.  I was hoping for solo Brubaker writing on his final arc since it wraps up the storyline from issue #1.  When I saw the television personality, I could not help but think of Glorious Godfrey from Kirby’s Fourth World titles.  I was not impressed with Cap’s lack of faith.  It seems like we have been down this road before.  Back in the Englehart days, he built up to the crisis with the revelation of Richard Nixon being the head of the Secret Empire.  It was logical that having a president betray the U.S.A. would have a devastating effect on Cap.  I don’t believe that what has happened here would be enough to shake him to his core.  I would say that it is a good thing that Brubaker is leaving but knowing that Remender is taking over is not a good thing.  It will be a good time to go back and re-read the Englehart/Gerber/DeMatteis/Gruenwald era.

8/12

CAPTAIN AMERICA #s 13-14:  The final 2 chapters in the Scourge storyline.  I loved Patrick Zircher on this arc.  At times his art reminded me of the John Byrne/Joe Rubenstein work on Cap.  It’s hard to believe that he has not landed a regular assignment for Marvel or DC.  If I heard right he is going to draw SHADOWMAN for Valiant.  Poor Dennis Dunphy.  It seems like he is always being mind controlled/brainwashed.  It was a good set up for the final chapter in Cap’s battle with Bravo.  I plan on continuing to read this series tonight.

WORLD’S FINEST #4:  Perez continues to shine.  The combination of Perez art and the coloring really made the opening sequence jump off the page.  It seemed like we would learn more about the villain in this issue but it did not happen.  Other than that I thought it was an excellent issue.  Levitz is doing a good job of developing the main characters.  Based on the next issue blurb, it sounds like it will be focused on the back story.  This has been a solid companion series to EARTH 2.

AQUAMAN #11:  In this chapter of “The Others” storyline, we find out what Black Manta has been searching for.  Johns is a master of pacing a story.   He saves the big reveal for the final pages so the reader is anxious to pick up the next issue.  The combination of Johns’ writing and Reis’ art keeps this book near the top of my must read stack.

GREEN LANTERN #11:   And speaking of Johns, his epic finale to his version of GREEN LANTERN continues to gain momentum.  The Hal/Sinestro partnership takes a turn in a different direction.  The Black Hand has become one of the most deranged and powerful villains in Johns’ pantheon.  This has been one of his strengths.  In FLASH he was praised for developing the Rogues gallery.  Sinestro and the Black Hand have become major characters in this series.  In some ways, Sinestro is the co-star of the book.  After reading this issue, you have to wonder what the Black Hand will do next.  I would be very interested in seeing Johns’ take on the Joker.  I guess the only chance we have for that would be in the BATMAN EARTH ONE series.  I don’t think the Joker appears in the first book but maybe he will show up in a later book.

THOR #17:  I enjoyed this issue.  Terry Kissinger was dead on about the similarities between Blake’s fate and “The Menagerie” from STAR TREK.  Another great Fraction story. 

8/8

COMPLEX #2:  An intriguing series that I stumbled on by accident.  The closest description I can give you is it is a mixture of X-FILES/THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS/THE PRISONER.  The art is the weak point but does tell the story.  It is definitely a writer driven series.

8/7

ACTION COMICS:  The character who is the Blake Farm Ghost in this series was Captain Comet in the Pre-New DC52 continuity.  His main story started in SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS (in the 70s) and continued in SUPER-TEAM FAMILY.  I think Conway was the main writer for him.  Leave it to Morrison to bring back a Pre-Crisis character.  Unlike the critics, I am enjoying this storyline.  It appears that the man who shows up in Lois’ niece’s room is from the 4^th dimension (home of Mr. Myx…I always forget how to spell it).  So Clark’s landlord is also from that dimension.  One of the best Mr. Myx stories was a classic multi-parter written by Joe Casey.  It was called “Emperor Joker”.  The Joker tricked Myx into giving him his powers.  Then Joker used the reality warping powers to remake the Earth in his image.  You can imagine the chaos.  Batman was constantly being killed and brought back to life.  If you ever get in the mood for a crazy old Superman story, I would recommend this storyline.  A search on Google should give you the issue numbers.  Meanwhile, DC is keeping it quiet about who will follow Grant on this book.  I would not be surprised to see Rags leave it then. 

8/6

EARTH2 #4:  Nicola Scott had a co-artist on this issue but it stays very consistent with her style.  The opening splash page was one of my favorite Nicola pieces yet.  It was another excellent issue.  I won’t talk about it until you have the chance to read it.  We do learn more about Al “Atom” Pratt and his place on this world.  The next issue comment on the bottom of the last page makes it sound like it will be another good one.

Moving Time

As 2011 winds down, I have decided to close down this blog.  It originally began as a "sister" blog to my Science Fiction Times.  Upon further review I am combining this back into the Science Fiction Times blog. 


My current plans are to review graphic novels on a weekly basis.  I will publish a tentative schedule.

The 2012 Graphic Novels Challenge

I signed up for the "The 2012 Graphic Novels Challenge".  Beginning in January, I will keep this list updated with my progress.

Y: The Last Man Vol. 1: Unmanned

Writer:  Brian K. Vaughn 
Penciller:  Pia Guerra 
Inker:  Jose Marzan, Jr. 
Collects issues 1-5 
Title:  Unmanned 

In the summer of 2002, a plague of unknown origin destroyed everything containing a Y chromosome with the exception of one young man and his pet monkey.  The "gendercide" instantaneously exterminated 48% of the global population, or approximately 2.9 billion men. 

Now, aided by the mysterious Agent 355, the last human male Yorick Brown must contend with dangerous extremists, a hoped for reunion with a girlfriend on the other side of the globe, and the search for exactly why he's the only man to survive. 

Brian K. Vaughn has set up a very interesting world in this series.  The reader is learning about it as Yorick tries to figure out what happened.  The viewpoint cuts to others at times to present the various possibilities.  The mystery is that, at least at this point in the story, the characters are not exactly sure who caused the death of the men. 


Yorik is not a common name.  The best known use of it was in Shakespeare's Hamlet when Hamlet exhumed the skull of Yorick.  Yorick was a court jester whose skull shows that death is unavoidable.   

Another modern usage of Yorik is in the Star Wars:  New Jedi Order series.  In this series, the Yuuzhan Vong use the mighty yorik-trema to attack.  The yorik-trema is a bio-engineered transport vessel. 


If the reader were to combine those definitions, it would imply that Yorik Brown is a light hearted man but that death is inevitable for him.  He would also be the bio-engineered system used to transport the plague.  I will be curious to see if any of this proves to be the case. 

In the new world, Yorik's mother is the president of the United States.  Yorik undertakes a journey to join up with his her.  The problem is that any surviving man will be a target for the radical extremists.  So Yorik puts on a cloak and a gas mask to cover his identity.  Along the way Yorik runs into many obstacles. Vaughn does a good job of imagining what the new world would be like.  The classic journey for the hero is a good way of driving the story.   

The other situation that Vaughn establishes is that Yorik’s girlfriend is in Australia.  In the manner of the classic quest story the author sends Yorik on a double quest.  First he will travel to Washington D.C. to find his mother.  Then he plans on traveling to Australia to reunite with his girlfriend.  Vaughn has patterned the tale on the classic after the disaster quest story.  It is in the same genre as “Damnation Alley” by Roger Zelazny, 
“On the Beach” by Nevil Shute, “Earth Abides” by George Stewart, the many novels of J. G. Ballard, “A Canticle for Leibowitz” by Walter Miller, and Kirkman’s “Walking Dead”. 


The art by Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan, Jr. does not get in the way of the story.  It is very reminiscent of Chas Truog's art in Grant Morrison's “Animal Man”.  The panel designs are very basic old school comic book art.  Do not expect the detail or innovative layouts of someone like George Perez.  The art tells the story.  In this day and age, that is something that many artists forget.  At times the artists did not use sequential storytelling.  In those instances the eye is led to follow the action in the wrong direction.  The action of a character leads the reader’s eyes to the left.  Unfortunately, this is on the left side of the page so the only option is to read to the right.  With some slight repositioning of the action, the story would flow much better.  I get the impression that many of the current artists need to spend more time studying “Comics and Sequential Art” by Will Eisner.  It is a classic text that shows you how to design your pages to use the art to help with the flow of the story.  Guerra does a better job than many of today’s artists with the storytelling.  With a little more attention to the sequential storytelling, the art would be raised to the next level.  In general the artists do an acceptable job. 


Overall this is a very good start to a series.  If you are looking for story driven comics, this is the book for you.  I found myself interested in learning more about the changes to our world.  The initial mysteries held my interest.  I will be reading the other volumes in this series. 


Recommended. 

Zenith: Book 1: Tygers

Writer:  Grant Morrison
Artist:  Steve Yeowell



Zenith is one of the "Holy Grail" books for me. It has only appeared in collected form in England. Some imported copies have appeared but I always seem to miss them at conventions. I finally managed to track them down and they were definitely worth the search.


"Zenith Book 1" is another great Morrison read. The story begins with the showdown between the British superhero "Maximan" and the Nazi superhero "Masterman" at the end of World War II. Maximan is overly confident and Masterman easily beats him. At this time, the Americans drop the atomic bomb on the duo bringing an end to the conflict.


Back in England, their scientists use the procedure to create a super team called Cloud 9. Cloud 9 become the darlings of the 60s. Two of them end up together and become parents to the first of the next generation of heros-Zenith. Unfortunately for them, Zenith is only interested in partying and his music career. He does enough heroic acts to help further his career.


Unknown to the winners of WWII, a secret cult survived the war. They are followers of "The Many Angled Ones" who were the real power behind Masterman. As their plot unfolds, Zenith is forced into teaming up with the remaining members of Cloud 9 to take on the new Masterman and his masters.


This is a well thought out, tightly plotted, mystery filled story that is another example of why Morrison is one of my favorite comic book writers.


Highly recommended.