Comics Reviews (9/11/14)

You know, I am just not feeling this run on Spider-Man. I quite liked Slott before Superior. But this just isn’t doing it for me. It’s very classic Spider-Man, but in the sense of being derivative and predictable. Sure, Peter’s specific life circumstances are different, but the storytelling is utterly flat and predictable. I’ll probably give this through Spider-Verse, but I’m pretty pessimistic.

The United States of Murder Inc. #5

Woo-hoo, watch those wheels spin!

Still the best comic that I have no idea what the fuck is going on in. Also the comic most in need of a recap page. Still very fun, and I enjoy reading each issue, but man, this must work so much better in trade.

Al Ewing does a one-off featuring Hyperion, which ends up being a quite good Superman comic that happens to feature one of Marvel’s knock-off Supermans. It’s difficult to quite know what to make of this – there’s something odd about such a straight up Superman comic being done without Superman. It feels like there should be more of a sense of what makes Hyperion an interesting take on the archetype, although to be fair, it’s also not clear that there actually is anything, Hickman’s protestations when creating this iteration to the contrary. Still, it’s a fun book.

The resolution of the Kate Bishop arc on this book. The release schedule (or lack thereof) did some real damage with this arc, and I admit I forget who the secondary cast is, which is definitely a problem for this issue, but I’m still left with an overwhelming sense that there should be a Kate Bishop solo series.

Annihilator #1

Grant Morrison nicks a substantial portion of the plot of The Fountain and proceeds to do a very Grant Morrison “fiction becomes reality” story with it and some very goth Flash Gordon stuff. If you imagine Grant Morrison writing Abslom Daak starring in The Fountain, you’ve basically got it. Does the very annoying thing of taking an entire issue to get to the premise that the book was advertised with, but it’s got some very pretty Frazer Irving art to smooth over the disappointment.

Stumptown #1

This has been meandering out for a while, with Rucka writing two minis over the last five years or so, but it seems to have finally decided to be a monthly with a new artist. Or, at least, that’s the goal. I’m broadly excited, though the first two minis fell a bit short of what I’d hope for from the premise. The “love letter to Portland” aspects of the comic implicit in the title are foregrounded, with a lovely view of Portland soccer fandom that I know is near and dear to Rucka’s heart. All in all, good fun, and a lovely jumping on point for a detective book that’s studiously not noir.

This continues to be great, with an Al Ewing solo issue that, other than a slightly rushed denouement, does a fantastic job of blending theme, character, and the building up of a larger plot. This really is as good as Doctor Who comics have ever been, and the dynamic between the Doctor and Alice is so perfect and such an utterly Eleventh Doctor thing that it doesn’t feel like it would work with Ten or Twelve. Really a delight, this book.

Lazarus #11

This book had been on a bit of a simmer through the rather long Lift arc, but after a done-in-one last time seems to be accelerating towards a series of very big explosions. There’s a lovely arc over this and the last issue in which we see two people laying out schemes against each other and anticipating each other’s moves, which builds suspense up marvelously. This has been one of the better comics coming out, and this is a top notch issue of it. I can’t wait for the next one, which is always a very good sign for the current one.