Mixed Plate Comics- Week of 10.05.2011

An incredible batch of books this week that made me want to have ties for certain tops posts.  Though I wanted to highlight more than the normal 5 reads, I stuck to my guns as I bruised through these lucky thirteen o' comics:  Action Comics #2 / Detective Comics #2 / Swamp Thing #2 / The Last of the Greats #1 / Penguin: Pain and Prejudice #1 / Animal Man #2 / Severed #3 / Huntress #1 / Casanova: Avaritia II / Stormwatch  #2 / Red Lanterns #2 / Justice League International #2 / X-23 #15.  Seriously, I changed out the last 3 spots over 4 times because of honorable mentions- Last of the Greats, Action Comics, Swamp Thing and Penguin...here it goes!


5    Casanova: Avaritia II   Matt Fraction & Gabriel Ba
Fraction and Ba continue their time-splitting, evocative, Pink Floydinian of a thrill-ride in numero dos of Avaritia.  Quinn sees the logic in sacrificing one for many by going on a hunt though every existence of

interplanetary rockstar- Luther Desmond Diamond.

In pure 12 Monkeys fashion, the neverending time-travelling takes its toll on our "hero" and we see this have a hallucinogenic effect on the visuals and dialogue as if we are in a room with Fraction and Ba shrooming and toking along with them. 

Not sure if its intended but Quinn sure does resemble Ba and Desmond Fraction huh?  Is this the artists way of saying eff you for pushing him around with the word bubble heavy script that takes away from his artistic airspace?!  Ha, now it seems that I am making no sense in this rev that is perfect cause when it comes down to it-- this book is all about the LAFFS!!  Three fave panels are the kung-fu panda meets game of thrones, comiccon death scene and the when Quinn pulls some crows out of his ass.  Fun, fun, fun.


4    The Huntress  #1  Paul Levitz & Marcus To
Its downright fabulous when we get to have a creator of an iconic character reunite in a book of this kind of magnitude and importance.  Why is Huntress such a major deal you ask??  Well if you didn't catch the DC All Access page in the back of this weeks reads-- we find out that this is the first of the Earth 2 books to come out!!  Yes, we have Earth 2 Huntress- daughter of Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne in all of her kickass

awesomeness. 
 
Helena goes back to the motherland of Italia and muses her innner Jane Bond while finding herself in the middle of a slave-trade that is of course run by some no-nonsense cosa nostra.  Huntress uses her brand of justice on a bunch of thugs with her signature facekicks, crossbow and everything else that ends with broken bones of her opposition.

Marcus To, who I was introduced to with his mad penciling in Red Robin-- busts some ill action sequences and balances out the sexiness but in a fully clothed affair.  Just love that Guillem March rocked the cover of the book and got away with throwing in that product placement for Victoria' Secret lace thong hanging from the clothesline!!  Ha!  Loved the book and twiddling my thumbs in excitement for Robinson/Scott's forthcoming Justice Society book.
 

3   Severed #3  Scott Snyder / Scott Tuft & Attila Futaki
You know that creepy ass Korean webcomic that went viral a few months ago and scared the hell out of us on the interwebs making us relive the crabwalk scene from Exorcist the Director's Cut-- so that don't got shit on Severed.  As I read through the first 2 issues I could see the importance of fleshing out the young protagonists of the book- Jack & Sam, while giving us enough to keep interested on that sick, demented old 

creepy-creeper.  Now in ish 3 we get the gathering of the three over ironically, dinner.

Futaki masterfully pans, scans and lays down the most convincingly emotive close up sequences that entertains you without the stereo surround.  All of the silence as we read is enough noise to get under your skin and stay with you as you have the shape of Fisher's teeth engrained in your mind.

Jack's naivete makes you wanna slap him in the head and tell him to get the hell out of there!! Sam's instincts may be enough to keep them safe-- though I feel that a book of this nature can't end well.  DC has made the jump from bridging the genres of superhero and horror but when a rare gem like this comes along you get why Snyder and Tuft went with Image and of course to keep creative rights to this made for film storyline.  Must read book if you haven't heard.  Get it!


2    Animal Man  #2  Jeff Lemire &Travel Foreman
I have the sneaking suspicion that into book #5 this title may need to be renamed Daughter of Animal Man cos really tho, Maxine steals the show.  We learn the extent of her new powers that surpasses Buddys as we see when she protects her older brother from a d*ckhead neighbor by turning his hand into a chicken foot.

So damn funny as we see those re-animated bones (Mr. Pickles and friends) running around all of the madness and through the lens of an iPhone.
Foreman's creative plotting is a visceral, graphic heavy spectacle that oozes of strange and fantastic.  Appreciate how there seems to be very little need for limitation or rules on how the pages are laid out and imagined.  No other book out there that puts me through this experimentation of storytelling besides J.H. Williams III's Batwoman.  I still can't believe this is the same guy thatw as drawing Iron Fist.  Amazing!

As scary and obscure things get with the nasty happenings to animals at the zoo and intro to some of the baddies--Maxine's carefree, spirit and ease of navigating to the Red keeps the mood balanced.  Every ish feels so short with Lemire's superior cliffhangers that you love to hate.  Thanks again to Scott Snyder for turning me on to this massive read.

1    Detective Comics #2    Tony Daniel & Ryan Winn
How the hell has Tony Salvador Daniel gotten this good as a storyteller?!  I really thought last ish was the highest of highs that he could pull off but again he proves me wrong.  Jerk!  Similar to how Daniel had full reign in character redesigns with Battle for the Cowl-- we get introduced for the first time to more of his crafty inventions, enter Dollmaker and his demented family.

 

Wait, lets rewind a bit. The second ish of DC's historically, most significant title (yes, DC was named after this book after it changed from National Comics and was the longest running book for the company)-- blew me the eff away on how well it orchestrated plotlines between Bruce Wayne to Gordon & his GCPD then to the Dark Knight.  If Batman Incorporated was the go to Batman book a few months ago-- it looks like that has all but changed if Daniel can keep this incredibly high level of words & art where its at two issues in.  And for those that know thats a huge feat with top scribes- Scott Snyder, Pete Tomasi, Judd Winick and Grant Morrison (back in January) amongst the Bat-fam writers. 

Serious, mad props to colorist Tomeu Morey that really brings Daniel's already stunning visuals to a more realistic, brooding feel that already celebrate in Guillem March's work (another Gotham artist that Morey regulars with).

The subtle touches of keeping Batman out at night and Bruce Wayne at play during the day sounds elementary but that slight of hand is so powerful in maintaining the two opposing characterizations.  Along with Daniels showing he has some wordsmith chops-- I gotta say that his Dark Knight is the best out there amongst Finch, Capullo, Gleason and even Jim Lee.  Here is your long-overdue shout Tony Daniel.  Keep it coming son!


This post was written by:
big O