Joe Rice Media Review 10/26/06

Comics comics comics comics! They are great when they are great. Sometimes they are. Other times they are not. It is a secret mystery how to tell! I will let you know the mystery sometime but not now! Because it is my secret.

I bought five comic books this week. Four of them were in some way good. One of them was not. Which one was not? New Avengers. I stopped buying this one a few issues back because, well, it was better than superhero comics usually are, but it wasn't good enough to spend money on. I bought this one because Ferry was drawing it and he is awesome. So how do they use this incredibly dynamic artist? Well, a short battle, yes, but LOTS OF TALKING! THERE IS A DINNER! PEOPLE SAY THINGS! INTIMATIONS ARE MADE! I don't mind talky-comics when it's called for, really. But using Pascual Ferry for talky comics is like using me for an ugliness model: we're just not good at it.

Daredevil was interesting. And I mean interesting both in that, yes, the story was interesting, but reading it was interesting in another way. You basically have a very pulpy "man searching for woman he barely knows in an unknown land" story but the guy is wearing red tights. It looks silly sometimes, and not in a way that's trying to look silly. It's no fault of the writer or the artist, who both are doing great work. It's just . . .in certain environments, guys in red bodysuits look silly. Tombstone was effective for what I must assume is the first time ever. Good book . . .just kind of standing on the border of how far a tights book can go.

Speaking of tights and borders, let's talk The Boys. It can be frustrating. There are always the kind of moments Ennis-haters use to talk shit in each issue, and even when they're well done (as in the "CHANGE!" scene and its implications) you almost feel like "stop giving them ammo, Garth!" And sometimes they're just not working, like the scene with Butcher and whassername. But there are also great, great, really working scenes in this . . .Homelander's confrontation with A-Train, and Hughie's blow-up at Butcher even moreso. Hughie is the integral part that will make or break the greatness of this book. He'll either be a pseudo-everyman like Kev or a true outsider "What the f*ck?" guy that this story needs. I'm still hoping for the latter and this issue points towards it.

Nextwave was a good issue. The last page, perhaps labored and late, was well-deserved. I'm actually glad this series has a known endpoint. I wish more did. Future minis will be very welcome. Beginnings and endings, what concepts.

Seven Soldiers. I think he did it. I think he pulled it off. It's hard to tell. This deserves re-readings, both just for this book and for the mega-series as a whole. Williams deserves laud and honor. But don't let his technical brilliance overshadow Morrison's, and don't let either's overshadow the goddam great work this was. It works "on multiple levels" as the cliche goes. Honestly I want more of everything. But how could any of this be used by anyone but Morrison? He's got faith in the DCU. But I don't. Klarion's set to appear in Robin. Can that possibly go well? I dunno. Here's hoping Grant's spell works. He's talking to Zor in this issue, but he's also talking to us, and he's also talking to the DCU I think. Many hands, many creators, but remade. Let's make it work this time.