Aqualad: FAIL

It seems that Aqualad just can't catch a break.  

First, there was the original Aqualad from the Teen Titans, Garth, that everyone seemed to make fun of and, basically, found useless.  In an attempt to recreate/reimagine himself, Garth became Tempest.  Unfortunately, Tempest never caught on in popularity either.  To put him (and his legion of non-fans) out of their misery, in the Blackest Night maxi-series, Garth is killed off.  

To revamp the Aqualad name and bring some diversity into the teenage superheroes of the DC Universe (besides the go-to Static), a new Aqualad appears in Brightest Day #10.  He's African-American; sports dreadlocks, a cooler costume, and tats; has better/expanded powers; and has a mystery surrounding him.  At this point, it seems like DC is really going to do something big with an Aqualad. 

Then comes DC's event series Flashpoint...and changes all DC history.  Where is Aqualad?  Is there an Aqualad?  Who knows.  He's not shown in any new issue of the new Aquaman series.  He also doesn't appear in the new Teen Titans series. 

Goodbye, Aqualad.  We hardly knew ye. 

The Lion Queen

Justice League of America #258

In the 1980s, when DC Comics changed the line-up for the Justice League of America to include fledglings Vixen, Gypsy, Commander Steel, and Vibe, I was not impressed.  These newcomers were JLA material?  A girl (Gypsy) running around in bare feet?  Methinks not.  In trying to add a bit of diversity to the DC Universe, it felt as though DC Comics was giving up on one of their most successful team titles.  They even assigned Luke McDonnell to the art chores, whose characters were all stiff-looking and unattractive.  Not surprisingly, this led to "The End of the Justice League of America" storyline which ran in issues Justice League of America #258-261.  I think everyone was thankful to see these new hated characters picked off, one by one. 

Present-day Gypsy

Cut to:  Today.  I have a very different opinion of the two newest members that have survived over the years.  Gypsy has (thankfully) donned shoes and a costume that's strikingly similar to Wonder Woman's new (and much talked about and reviled) costume.  She's also got some pretty formidable powers that make her one of the most underrated superheroes in the DC Universe.  In this regard, she reminds me of Marvel Comics' Invisible Woman.  Once Marvel recognized the extent to which the Invisible Woman's powers worked, she became the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four.  Same goes for Gypsy.  Of the four, she's probably the strongest member.

Vixen, however, has become the best of the bunch.  She's sexy and tough and deserves more recognition than she's currently given.  She was thankfully given her own mini-series titled Vixen: Return of the Lion in 2008, but we haven't seen her since.   The strength of this mini-series is in the solo adventures of Vixen as she returns to her homeland; the weakness is the inclusion of the Justice League.  Vixen can do just fine on her own.  She doesn't need other superheroes to help her carry a storyline, especially in her first solo self-titled mini-series.  Vixen: Return of the Lion was quality storytelling, and I recommend it to anyone who loves good writing (G. Willow Wilson) and exceptional artwork (Cafu).  Let's hope that one day Vixen gets her due.  She deserves a solo comic more than Static or Marvel Comics' new female Black Panther.

Painting the Town Scarlet

I just read the first three issues of Brian Michael Bendis' creator-owned Scarlet back-to-back and, I have to admit, it is fantastic.  Scarlet is a vigilante formed after the killing of her boyfriend by a corrupt cop.  She's out for vengeance.  But not just anybody.  She's out for vengeance against the whole corrupt system within the police department.  For now, she's focusing on her own city, Portland, Oregon, but I can see her branching out eventually in her attempt to right the wrongs in the world.  To quote her, "If this world has to burn to the ground before all the fuckers learn to stop being fuckers, then that's what its going to do."  Love it. 

Bendis writes Scarlet like John Byrne used to write The Sensational She-Hulk: the main character talks to the reader.  She tells the reader a story...her story.  That's one of the best aspects about this comic.  When it's done right.  And Bendis does it right with Scarlet.  

I never found myself bored with any of the story.  Bendis kept it moving along.  We, the readers, feel like we're right there along with Scarlet.  We feel her pain.  We understand why she's upset and why she becomes what she's been forced to become.  

Alex Maleev is the artist on Scarlet.  He also worked with Bendis on the short-lived 2009-2010 Spider-Woman series.  His style of art is different.  It's dark with rough edges/lines, which suits Scarlet perfectly since it's a dark-themed story.  There are bright spots (or highlights), though, in all the darkness, such as Scarlet's red hair.  It stands out, much like the red that stood out in Sin City.  Or Batwoman. 

My only disappointment?  I'm paying $3.95 for $2.95 of story.  Like the new Avengers comics (that I've dropped for pricing and poor story reasons), the rest of Scarlet is just words on a page.  The "filler" contains interview questions and answers from Bendis, as well as letters from readers and the responses to them.  Not just one page, but pages and pages and pages.  I was literally surprised in issue #3 when the story stopped about halfway through the comic I was holding.   

I'm looking forward to reading Scarlet for many years to come, continuing down the same intriguing path.  I only hope they can cut down on all the "chatter." 

Batman (yawn) Returns

I picked up Batman: The Return this week.  It was a $4.99 rip-off.  Er, one-shot.  Fortunately, I expected nothing less (or better) than I received.

I imagined the return of Bruce Wayne/Batman to be this dramatic event in the DC Universe.  However, it was a discombobulated mess and, as I've mentioned in previous postings, anti-climatic.  The Time Masters: Vanishing Point mini-series, in which a small group of DC heroes were searching for Batman throughout time, hadn't yet ended.  Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne mini-series hadn't ended yet either.  Both mini-series still had Bruce Wayne floating through time toward the present.  Even the Batman and Robin monthly series written by Grant Morrison himself couldn't keep up with the schedule of Batman's return.  Suddenly, DC Comics releases Bruce Wayne: The Road Home one-shots and he's back, everyone knows he's back, and there isn't much said or seen reunion-wise.  Scheduled weeks later?  Batman: The Return.  So now he's back and we're supposed to be...what?  Surprised?  Excited?  Emotional?  No.  More like confused.  And disappointed.  I feel like I, too, traveled back and forth in time reading these mismatched stories and series out of sequence, to no fault of my own. 

Batman: The Return contained a regular-sized comic story written by Grant Morrison which was pretty uninteresting, and didn't really contribute to much of the Batman universe other than being a marketing piece toward the end for the upcoming Batman, Inc. series wherein Batman loses the "loner" status he's always held near and dear, opting for commercialization instead (here, I'm reminded of the classic Charlie Brown Christmas animated special).  The rest of the Batman: The Return issue featured artwork and various logos considered for Batman, Inc.  It was then bound by harder stock matte finish cover.  All for the "bargain" price of $4.99.  Seriously, it was a waste of time and money, but I'm the fool in this game, because I knew it would be awful going in.  I keep hoping for the best for Batman and I see nothing but commercialization and overexposure.  

Because of the many new Bat-titles forthcoming, I'll probably reduce the amount of Bat-books I buy.  Not just for quality purposes but because trying to keep up and keep things in order will just get too complicated.

Holy hotness, Green Arrow!

And now...a break from our regularly scheduled comic reviews.  I bring you some of the latest Green Arrow covers by artist Mauro Cascioli. 

Watch Her Pull A Rabbit Out Of Her Hat

I admit that I've never been a big fan of Zatanna, the magical sorceress in the DC Universe.  I've always felt she was a weak character and wore a costume too closely resembling Black Canary's.  Mostly, though, it's always bugged me to have to read her magical spells written sdrawkcab.  (That's "backwards," folks.  See?  Annoying, right?)  It's always slowed down the reading process for me and made me lose interest when she'd jump into the ring in a Justice League of America battle. 

When DC Comics announced that Zatanna was getting her own monthly series, I wondered why.  I wondered why because I was curious why the Powers-That-Be thought that this supporting character was strong enough to carry her own series.  With so many interesting heroines, why should Zatanna warrant a starring role?  

I picked up Zatanna #1 this past week and found myself enjoying it (despite the backwards spells).  What intrigued me most was the writing.  Paul Dini provides some sharp dialogue and witty banter between Zatanna and her newly introduced supporting characters.  I felt like I was watching an early episode of Moonlighting.  I also love it when writers incorporate the hero's (or heroine's) personal/private life into the comic, as Dini did in issue #1.  I feel like after thirty years, I am finally getting to know who Zatanna is.  Lastly, I appreciated that the story (and hopefully future stories) takes place in San Francisco, away from popular cities in the DC Universe as Metropolis or Gotham City.  Sure, the Teen Titans make their home in San Francisco, but are they really ever there anymore?  (See my TT review.) 

As long as these elements hold true, I'll be reading Zatanna.  Or rather, I'll be reading (albeit slowly) Annataz.   

Congrats, Matt Camp!

It's great to see that DC Comics is using Matt Camp again for a regular series. With Supergirl #47, he rejoins the DC family. After the Infinity Inc. reboot was cancelled, I was sad to see his stunning art disappear from DC Comics titles. Congrats, Matt!

Zero Killer is no Zero

I must confess that I'm one of those comic book readers that doesn't stray too often from DC or Marvel. Why? Well, I'm already spending more money than I should on characters that I already know, love, and grew up with, so I don't see the point in exploring new universes with a whole new set of characters. Occasionally, I do stray, though.

Recently, I picked up a couple of issues of Herogasm by Dynamite Comics, mostly because the idea seemed hilarious. It's about a getaway for superheroes where they engage in...well, carnal knowledge. Apparently it's a spin-off of a series called The Boys. Unfortunately, instead of being entertaining, Herogasm provided little more than the opportunity for its writer to write porn and its artist to draw a bunch of naked superheroes. And, like porn, there was no decent story.

On the other hand, I picked up some back issues of a series called Zero Killer by Dark Horse Comics. Why? Because I discovered that it was drawn by the brilliant Matt Camp, whose work I loved in DC Comics' latest incarnation of Infinity, Inc. His art ranks high in my book, along with two of my favorites, George Perez and Kevin Maguire. The faces of the characters he draws are very expressive. He's definitely concerned with detail. So, since Matt's currently not working on anything else DC- or Marvel-related, I decided to give Zero Killer a try, if only to gaze upon more of his beautiful artwork. I picked up issues 1-3 and read them back-to-back. Not only was I naturally impressed (again) by Matt Camp's art, but I was also absorbed into Arvid Nelson's post-nuclear story of a man named Zero. The story moves along quickly and the characters are each distinct. New York City is in ruins and flooded as a result from a 1973 worldwide nuclear war. Each of the major skyscrapers (Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, and, yes, the Twin Towers) houses a different gang. Arvid gives us pieces of the Zero's puzzle a little bit at a time, which makes the story all that more intriguing. Ironically, issues 4 and 5 are finally coming out this fall after a two-year delay, so I'll get to enjoy those soon enough as well. Check out their website at http://www.zerokiller.com/.

My only wish is that DC Comics hire Matt Camp full-time so I can enjoy seeing him draw some of my favorite characters of all time.

Captain Snoozer

I don't normally read Captain America, but since he was getting a reboot, I thought I'd give him a try. I picked up Captain America 600 and 601, as well as Captain America Reborn #1. At the higher pricing of $4.99, $3.99, and $3.99, respectively, I feel Marvel could have provided something a little more interesting and exciting to get new readers hooked on their flag-clad icon. The issues had some interesting ideas in bringing the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, back to life, like introducing a "second shooter" ala JFK. Plus, I enjoyed seeing the Falcon, if only briefly.

Unfortunately, the rest of the story fails. I had no emotional connection and was truly bored. Even the "tributes" to Steve Rogers weren't interesting, and the "very special issue" touted on the cover of #601 wasn't special by any means. I expected something with some emotion attached, not a flashback story from the 1940s. It didn't move the character or story of Captain America forward in any way and certainly didn't intrigue me enough to continue reading Captain America, the comic. For the money, I'll stick to DC's rebirth of the Flash.