Day 69: Four-Color Funnybooks for 04-16-08
A small week, but full of some great comics. As someone who is trying to come up with dialogue that doesn’t sound trite, over wrought, or clichéd as balls, I both love and hate Ed Brubaker and Greg Pak. Brubaker does real world gritty dialogue that doesn’t sound like a white boy slumming it, and Pak manages to have a story with mythical beings where everyone doesn’t sound like the B-squad from Medieval Times.
Captain America #37 - The story barrels on, and there’s been no real filler during Brubaker’s run, nor has there been a discernible arc. Every bit of story, every plot point flows together and every move on both sides is part of a larger plan. This whole run has everything: political intrigue, wide screen action, quiet character moments, actual growth by every character in the story, and great art. I always come to these issues waiting to be blown away, and I’m never let down.
This issue shows that no one is happy or used to Bucky being the new Captain America and even Hawkeye (who knows a thing or two about being dead) shows up to make his thoughts known, and we get a hell of a cliffhanger on the last page. Pick up the omnibus, steal the trades, hunt down those back issues, but if you like Marvel, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be reading this book.
The Incredible Hercules #116 - A filler issue setting up for the Secret Invasion cross-over, but one done right. Nothing feels wasted, as we get more insights into Hercules, Amadeus, the nature of immortality, and an incredible set-up for the next couple of issues. Folks, this is one of the best books at Marvel, and it’s only five issues in, so get on board. The book’s entertaining and important to the overall structure of the Marvel U.
Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag #8 - So this little mini wraps up, and sadly, given the short run and the large cast, the dialogue still skews broad. It gets across character, but with no subtlety, which I guess is okay, because the body count for the stars of the book is pretty damn high; we need to get to everyone fast. It’s refreshing to see an action sequence where one of the combatants is down on the ground and helpless, so the one still standing walks over and shoots them in the face. No talking, no bullshit honor stuff, just survival. It’s a fight, and you fight dirty in a war.
Hopefully we’ll get more Suicide Squad in the future or DC Management will wake up and put writer John Ostrander on spy book Checkmate and not Bruce Jones.
Warbound #5 - Kind of disappointing. The writing and characterization are solid, as is the art, but the storyline doesn’t define where the Warbound will be years from now. Instead, it basically locks them up in a corner of the Marvel Universe where no one will bother with them ever again. It makes sense as a story and isn’t forced, but it sucks that we’ll probably never see these characters regularly.
Essentially the Hulk’s old enemy the Leader covered a section of New Mexico in a radioactive dome. Anyone caught in the dome will die if they leave, and some the flora and fauna has turned into monsters. The Warbound will be there forever, fighting monsters, and not being used in actual storylines. Boo.
So, what did you read this week?
Matt