yetanothercomicbook

[yetanothercomicbook]

The Secret Origin of Plastic Man

Plastic Man [Secret Origins #30]

Awful.

A crook gets powers, goes straight.

Man, this is trying really hard to be funny. Cringeworthy gags are shoved into every panel. It's interminable.

1/10

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The Home Stretch

The Elongated Man [Secret Origins #30]

Silly.

The Elongated Man goes home.

I wanted to like this but it's stupid. Ralph has a ridiculous backstory and origin. Feels like it belongs in a children's comic.

There's a lot of talk in this but it successfully manages to give us an overview of the guy's career as a hero. It all seems rather awful.

4/10

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The Torpedo Will Get You If You Don't Watch Out!

Daredevil #59

Silly in places, but enjoyable overall.

New villain Torpedo comes gunning for recurring character Willie Lincoln.

Broadly speaking it's an average story, with some decent action. The ongoing soap opera stuff with Karen is downplayed here. The silliest part is the giant metal chute Willie falls down while snooping around the nightclub. That cheerful bit of nonsense raises so many questions.

19 years before Willie is seen in the series again!

Roy Thomas (9 of 20).

Gene Colan (38 of 77).

6/10

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Combat

Batman: The Cult #4

Weak finish to poor mini-series.

Batman and Robin return to the city a week later.

But now they are in a souped-up batmobile and carry tranquilliser guns. Much is made of this. We gets pages and pages of talking heads telling us stuff. We get a brief retelling of Batman's origin and a dubious new take on his motivation for being a vigilante. The main villain becomes a total cliché in the final scenes, and it all comes down to a bland will-Batman-kill-him question.

I'm new to Batman comics but even I can tell there's no part of this mini-series where the main character acts like Batman. He's consistently ineffective and unimpressive. It's a remarkably misjudged storyline.

Jim Starlin (4 of 4).

Bernie Wrightson (4 of 4).

4/10

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Escape

Batman: The Cult #3

About the same as before.

"The Deacon broke me, Robin!"

This is the chapter where Robin rescues Batman from the sewer, so we get some decent action sequences for the first time. It's also the chapter where Gotham City falls, so we get lots and lots of news reports and vox pops. Lots! No matter how you look at it, it sure is a lot of talking heads in one comic. Even a double-sized one.

The ease with which the city falls fails to convince. Like much in this mini-series, it's a development that feels contrived. Surely other major villains in the regular ongoing series would have something to say about all these events? And what about the other major heroes in this shared universe? As a reader, you really have to overlook/ignore a lot of stuff to meet this storyline halfway. And it's just not worth it for what we are getting.

Jim Starlin (3 of 4).

Bernie Wrightson (3 of 4).

5/10

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Capture

Batman: The Cult #2

Losing steam already.

"My mission in life, now, is to help Deacon Blackfire clean up Gotham City."

Another 46 pages of Batman not behaving like Batman. He's been broken so he's half-heartedly helping the bad guys. Then he escapes. For a while. Since the story effectively lacks a proactive protagonist, it has to resolve itself. Enter Ratface. A character who exists to (a) get Batman up out of the sewers, and (b) get captured and spill the beans to Commissioner Gordon. This brings Robin into the story, and into the sewers.

It looks nice but none of this is particularly engaging.

Jim Starlin (2 of 4).

Bernie Wrightson (2 of 4).

5/10

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Ordeal

Batman: The Cult #1

Average.

Dreams and flashbacks.

Not a fan of dreams in comics. But they sure are popular. You don't get them in movies or TV, but comic books love 'em! This 46-page issue for example opens with a 7-page dream sequence that amounts to... nothing. But it looks nice.

In the story that follows, we get several flashbacks filling in the villain's backstory. None of them are all that important but they sure slow the pace. Between all this filler, we get flashes of actual plot.

It seems that Batman has been (easily) captured by sewer dwellers and by the end of the chapter he's been brainwashed by their leader. That's it, that's all that happens.

I'm new to Batman, but it seems to me that he should have escaped his bonds without too much problem. The fact that he didn't makes everything that follows feel contrived. Like the writing is trying way too hard to make this story idea work.

Jim Starlin (1 of 4).

Bernie Wrightson (1 of 4).

6/10

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Who Serves Lucifer?

Iron Man #20

Very good.

The story of Charlie Gray, a discontented security guard at Stark Industries.

Something different. An issue told from the perspective of a would-be villain. We see him unhappy at work, unhappy at home, and then tempted after a chance meeting with a real super-villain. A super-villain who needs his help.

The story comes down whether or not Charlie's loving wife can save her husband and get him back. It's far from perfect but it gets you really invested in the outcome.

This run is terrific.

Archie Goodwin (23 of 31).

George Tuska (15 of 18).

9/10

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Spin-Out on Fifth Avenue!

Daredevil #58

A good read.

Debut of the Stunt-Master!

We open with Matt working for the DA! We see, in flashback, how that came to be. We also see him explaining everything to Karen, after the previous issue's big revelation to her about his secret identity. There's an attacking assassin, too. And those pages are packed with impressive motorcycle action. But, cheesy and all as it is, the heart of this issue is Karen running away at the end, as she realises it can never be between her and Matt/DD. Nothing is subtle here but you can't argue that it works.

Total Paid Circulation: 245,422 (average #47-58).

Roy Thomas (8 of 20).

Gene Colan (37 of 77).

8/10

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Headhunter

The Adventures of Superman #445

Average.

Brainiac is killing homeless people.

Lots of characters and lots of storylines in this issue. None I really care very much about. Lois and that boyfriend of hers, Cat and her problems, Superman feeling guilty, Jimmy playing investigator, etc. None of it grabs the reader. However, things do move forward significantly in all ongoing storylines. That's something, I suppose.

Jerry Ordway (21 of 31).

6/10

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You Shoulda Seen Him…

Batman #423

Above average.

3 cops talk over breakfast, sharing tales of seeing Batman that night.

Works well. Middle one is only only one with action/violence. Other two are atypical.

Jim Starlin (10 of 17).

7/10

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The More Things Stay the Same

Legion of Super-Heroes #12

Weak.

Everybody is anxious about who the new leader will be.

So we jump around from location to location, seeing various groups of characters chat about the Legion. I'd prefer to stick with the Legion!

Paul Levitz (59 of 120).

4/10

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The More Things Change

Legion of Super-Heroes #12

Straightforward.

Space pirates; leader election.

Action in space and a bit of a mystery. Some short character moments back on Earth.

Paul Levitz (58 of 120).

Steve Lightle (8 of 12).

6/10

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You Can't Keep a Good Villain Down

Legion of Substitute Heroes Special #1

Amusing.

Matter-Eater Lad summons the Subs to his home planet when he suspects something is about to awry with the computers running everything.

He's right. And a fearsome super-villain is soon on the scene. But, since this is a comedy, the heroes are somewhat inept and clueless. They stumble around and most what we see provokes chuckles. It's hard to believe that such a team would actually exist in this universe but this is a fun read.

6/10

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The Missing Planet Puzzle

Tales of the Legion #324

Okay.

Invisible Kid's first solo mission!

And it's about problems mapping a planet. Not exactly thrilling. Clearly meant to provoke a laugh or two, and not quite getting there.

5/10

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5 to the Infinite Power

Tales of the Legion #325

Cool.

Rescuing Dev-Em; Battling the Dark Circle.

Three very powerful good guys decimating the bad guys. It's almost irresistible. The characters are so darn likeable. And the villains have (had) an interesting plan.

8/10

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The Secret of the Dark Circle

Tales of the Legion #324

Good.

Is Dev-Em a killer?!

Pretty good hook here, as three powerful Legionnaires track a mass murderer across space afraid that it's their friend. Turns out that it is! Sorta. Plenty of action.

8/10