Just to be clear, Infantino's style is crazy af. He did things in a way no popular artist was doing in the '80s, and his people were unusual looking and angular. And if you think that looks weird, you should see his Marvel Star Wars comics from around the same era. But it grows on you. And he was inventive as fuck. He basically pioneered the way speed was portrayed in comics for half a century. Particularly Flash with the multiple images. He created the visual language for that character, that didn't even exist with previous artists doing Jay during the Golden Age. And that 1980s run with Cary Bates & Infantino (well, the entire Bates run, really) is still my favorite Flash run of all time, although the first two Wally runs that immediately followed it (Baron/Guice and Messner-Loebs/LaRoque) are a very close 2nd and 3rd.

 

I read the Crisis Trilogy: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, and Final Crisis.

I'd give the overall group a solid 8 of 10. They're dated book, but classic. Individually I'd go:
CoIE: 7/10. Ok, but too long and very very dated.
IC: 6/10. A mess of a story with some good moments to it.
FC: 8/10. I like it better each time I read it. My first read through it was incomprehensible. This is read through 4 or 5 and reading it with the others, in an edition that includes the important crossover issues, helps a lot.

 

She-hulk #30 (2005)
6 out of 10

I missed this short run of She-hulk by Peter David when it was first out, and frankly, I'm not sure that wasn't for the best. Five or six issues in, it hasn't gelled at all for me. The art is weak, the coloring is woeful--the constant red in Shulkie's eyes makes it look like she's smoking weed. And the writing is just so blase' and cliche. I was all about Peter David's Hulk when I was a teenager, but I don't think I've liked any of his material since then. Weak jokes by disaffected characters one minute, overwrought melodrama the next. Debating finishing the run.

Could be the Byrne She-hulk is so definitive I can't get past it to like the dour Civil War era version. She's not fun.

 

Superman: The Exile and other stories omnibus - 10/10



This collection goes back to the beginning for me. I started reading comics late in 1988, and the second and third issues reprinted in this book, Superman 23 and Adventures of Superman 446, were the first two Superman comics I ever bought. I did not know at the time that I had just missed John Byrne's post-Crisis revamp (or even that there had been a revamp of Superman) and the way that it ended, with Superman executing the three pocket universe versions of General Zod and his two lieutenants. Yeah, Superman killed someone, and when this volume begins, he's having a lot of trouble living with what he's done. There is no brash "I did what I had to do" attitude from Superman and no quick and easy getting over it. He's a man wrestling with his conscience, as he should be.

Superman tries to get back into his old routine, working as Clark Kent at the Daily Planet and appearing as Superman when needed, albeit with a lot more restraint and hesitation than he had, enough that people comment on it. But (and this is the big spoiler for those who haven't read these thirty year old stories),

Spoiler

he's always so tired and worn out because he's leading yet another double life as Gangbuster, a vigilante, and he's not even aware of what he's doing.

Fearing that he's lost control and deciding that he's too dangerous to those around him, he tidys up his remaining affairs, gathers some equipment, and then heads off into space for the self-imposed exile of the title.

It's to the credit of the writers that the storylines on Earth continue in Superman's absence and are every bit as interesting as his adventures in space as he attempts to find a place to settle. These books should be required reading for anyone who wants to know how to write and balance Superman's large supporting cast, because it's so well done here. I was every bit as interested in what Lois Lane or Cat Grant or Morgan Edge were up to as I was in Superman's space adventures. In the end, Superman is captured by Mongul and forced to fight in his gladiatorial games before meeting an ancient cleric with a relic of Krypton, the eradicator, who not only bequeaths it to Superman, but helps him work through his guilt at executing the three Kryptonians and convinces him to return to Earth.

The remainder of the book contains maybe 10-12 issues of Superman, Adventures and Action that don't directly deal with the Exile storyline as they fill out the page count, but it's all good material and many issues deal with fallout from Superman's time in space, with the final issue showing the Eradicator constructing what will become the post-Crisis Fortress of Solitude in the Antarctic.

This is a quality presentation for some quality work by (among others) Jerry Ordway, Roger Stern, Dan Jurgens, George Perez, and even a bit of Curt Swan art. I've still got a few of my original issues on newsprint which I compared to the recoloring in the book, and while the covers are all darker on the originals, the interiors are matched very well, albeit obviously far brighter and more vivid on the coated stock than they were on newsprint. This book was well worth my money and I really enjoyed revisiting this era and these storylines. I hope they follow up with future omnibuses. I wouldn't mind seeing all the material between here and the Death of Superman collected. It was a high point for Superman.

Collects THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #445-460, SUPERMAN #23-37, ACTION COMICS #643-646 and ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #2.

 

I bought my copy of this right after DC announced the John Byrne Omnibus, which turned out to be three weeks before DC announced cancelling the John Byrne Omnibus.

 

DC has always been bad about announcing then cancelling, but it's been extra bad lately. I don't know what's going on with their collected editions department. They need to put a plan in place and then stick with it, with a consistent release schedule. They need stability, not this ad hoc "announce then cancel"/"announce then change the format" approach we've seen so much of.

 

Motor Girl - 8/10

 

I'm reading this now. I remember large portions of this story very clearly, and I was glued to the pages back in the day when it was originally published and could not wait to see the next development. I still have quite a few of the original issues and will have to compare them with the recolored interiors at some point. I'll post a review when I'm done. I think when all is said and done I'll probably still be more positive about it than you have been, though I agree some of the art is pretty bad. Those two Tom Grindberg-drawn issues are very poor, and it's a relief when Jim Aparo's art appears. And I'm always a fan of Norm Breyfogle's Batman.

 

Scooby Apocalypse Tpb Vol

• 7/10
  I was initially attracted to this book for two reasons. One, I’m partial to the genre of “Children’s Properties Re-interpreted as Tongue-in-Cheek, Over-the-Top Fare for Adult Fanboys”. (What do you mean? Of course that’s a genre.) And two, the team of Giffen and Dematteis is always promising. Scooby Apocalypse seemed like a mix of stupid and awesome that just might be fun.
• Having just read the TPB of the first six issues, my feelings are mixed. While there’s a lot to like, everything I like has some problems as well. To start, cover art by Jim Lee for the TPB and several issues. Mostly great compositions, team shots, lots of cross-hatching—but they feel rushed. I wonder about the cover where Fred’s face is covered by the Grifter mask. That doesn’t really appear inside any issue, but it’s like nobody cared enough to go back and revise it.
• Interior art by Porter is largely really great, and dense. There’s so much going on, on each page—maybe too much. I noticed many pages are structured as six-panel grids, and every panel has three or more characters interacting. You don’t see artists working that hard in comics these days. The upshot is that it’s beautiful; the downside is that so much content is on each page, with most panels at the same mid-range POV, that it becomes a little hard to absorb everything. The coloring hurts in this regard. While a nice palette of blues and greens, there’s so much that it all bleeds together. There are a number of blurry panels, as well.
• Story-wise, the writers do well in layering the concepts—world-building was a big part of their work on JL3000, and it’s a big part of this. Frankly, Giffen and Dematteis are to be commended for seriously endeavoring to turn what could be a one-issue, throw-away parody concept into an actual, honest-to-god action and drama series. Dialogue is strong, and is a big part of why I love to read these creators. The book flounders a bit though around the third and fourth issues to figure out its direction. Continuity is a little wonky between issues, with often jarring transitions in structure or narrative voice between the issues. You’ll find a cliff-hanger at the end of an issue, then the next issue jumps past the resolution, then circles back. There’s a lot of repetitive dialogue—often, characters will word-for-word restate who they are and what’s going on. Daphne and Velma keep having the same arguement, and the reader doesn’t feel like the characters are progressing the way they should. Daphne, frankly, might be bi-polar with her wildly erratic mood swings—I’m not sure what the intention is with her character. Other characters don't react to her in a way that seems consistent with the tone of the book. She seems to be the main character, but she isn't likable; at one point, she hits Velma in the back of the head with a computer for no reason other than spite. Maybe this was supposed to be funny, but it came off as jarring. Velma’s backstory in issue 6 is a touch dark, and feels like it’s setting up something big. Scooby-doo’s dialogue is largely used just to punctuate moments in the story, but the timing of “Ruh-ro!” is consistently funny to me. I'd like to see more of the titular character doing stuff.
• If you read the Justice League 3000/3001 books, you’ll find Scooby Apocalypse remarkably similar in tone and execution. The world is bleak but expansive. There’s a nebulous, over-powered villain. The plotlines are deep but meander. You wish the world was more fully explored, because it’s intriguing. JL3000/3001 was ultimately frustrating because of so many plotlines both came out of nowhere and ended unsatisfactorily. BUT—the lack of closure only really mattered because what the writers set up was SO interesting.
• Amazingly, there are at least three more Scooby Apocalypse TPBs at present—that’s quite a lot given the nature of the concept. I wonder how I’ll feel at the end.

 

Venom: The End
Not sure I've ever seen a story ramp up so fast across 30 or so pages. Really fun stuff.

 

He-man and the Masters of the Multiverse
1/10

Hack work all the way around. You could swap MOTU for any other property in this book, and I don't think the plot centered around different versions of the characters changes at all. It comes off so tired, cliched, and indifferent.

 

Batman: Knightfall Omnibus vol. 1 - 8/10


Contents taken from the Amazon listing: BATMAN #484-500, BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #16-18, BATMAN: VENGEANCE OF BANE #1, DETECTIVE COMICS #654-666 and SHOWCASE ’93 #7-8.

First off, this is a well-mapped omnibus. Just about all the other books I've purchased have issues in strictly chronological order, but that would render this long, long crossover almost impossible to read, so DC put the book together in such a way that consecutive Batman issues that tell a two part story are together, then Detective comics issues that tell a story are grouped together, and so on. The book does not rush into the actual Knightfall story, but starts out with a number of issues of Batman and Detective that set up some of the ongoing storylines, including Bruce Wayne's exhaustion and growing inability to rest and recover. I read Knightfall back in the day when it was first published and still have quite a few of the issues, but I was surprised at just how many of the issues collected in this volume I had not read before. I missed more than I thought.

The Vengeance of Bane one-shot opens the book, followed by a number of Batman and Detective issues as Batman fights various one-shot villains and gets Jean-Paul Valley into training with Tim Drake as Robin. Bruce's deteriorating mental and physical condition is an ongoing plot, and he actually finally goes to a doctor, Shondra Kinsolving, who is treating Tim's father. I had forgotten that she's seeded into the story so early, because she'll end up vital to Bruce's recovery down the road. The art in these issues is variable, with the art for the Black Mask story being pretty poor, and Jim Aparo's appearance a welcome relief. There's some Norm Breyfogle in this volume, and he's my favorite Batman artist of this era, followed by Graham Nolan. On the other hand, I've never liked Kelly Jones art style, but he is mainly covers only (and incidentally, while the interior pages of the books are re-colored, the covers appear to be scans). Rarely does any one artist draw more than a couple of issues in a row, so you'll be constantly switching art styles throughout the book, but the same would have been true reading the monthly series.

Bruce famously gets his spine broken by Bane in this story, leading to Jean-Paul Valley taking over as Batman (a subject the intro sheds some light on), and the collected issues actually end with Valley as Batman beating Bane. In between that and Bruce's disabling injury are collected some side issues, such as Showcase 93 and Shadow of the Bat. DC have done a good job in trying to collect all the issues connected with this storyline, which was absolutely massive and sprawling and went on for over a year, maybe longer. I compared the omnibus to some of my original issues, and the art in the omnibus is larger than the original pages. The colors seem well matched, albeit brighter and more vibrant on the better quality paper. Most of the scanned covers are well done, though one or two seem less sharp and crisp than they should be. There are some nice extras at the end, including variant covers, pages that were apparently never published showing Bane breaking into Wayne Manor, and some sketches.

It's an excellent collection. The quality of the original material is variable. In comparing recent collections of material from this era, I find that while I enjoyed the Superman: Exile stories every bit as much as I originally did, I didn't like revisiting Knightfall as much as I had hoped. The grimness and violence was more off-putting to me now than it was 25 years ago. Still, I did enjoy the story and I appreciate not having to dig out my old issues to read the entire story, particularly since I seem to be missing a few chapters. I will definitely get the other two volumes and read the rest of it again. The omnibus format seems to me to be the ideak way to collect a story like this, one that went on as long as it did and in some many different books.

 

Batman: Earth One Vol 1 by Geoff Johns - 9/10
Probably an unpopular/minority opinion but this is probably my preferred take on Batman's origin over Year One. Mainly because this feels like Bruce actually has to go through an arc of just wanting simple revenge to becoming a vigilante for justice. It's also refreshing in the age of Bat-God to see a Batman who actually has to struggle to earn his victories and gets tossed around by regular people.

Wonder Woman Vol 1 by George Perez (Issues 1-14) - 8/10
With the sequel coming up, I'm trying to go through Wonder Woman's Post-Crisis history, at least with what DC's released in trade so far, starting with the Perez run. The first issue was particularly good with how much Perez and Potter were able to compress the entire history of the Amazons up to Diana leaving Themyscira into a single issue without it feeling like too much information overload. Rest of the introductory arc is also pretty good, one of the more notable changes to WW's traditional setup being Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman not having a romantic interest in one another. Ares' not realizing his plan to kick start nuclear war would eventually leave him without worship makes you think how much he thought this through but WW beating villain through realizing the folly of war rather than fisticuffs fits her ambassador/warrior for peace gimmick so it's not too egregious.

Giving it's Perez, the most standout thing is the art which particularly shines when he portrays stuff relating to the Greek Gods and other mythical monsters. Perez's Ares demonic hoplite design is probably one my favorite super villain looks in comics.

 

I’ve been reading the old Spider-Man books for a while now, hoping to eventually barrel my way through all of the Amazing Spider-Man and at least some if not all of his other mags (Spectacular, Web of, etc.). I’ve been reading the Amazing Spider-Man regularly for over ten years now from Brand New Day onwards and in my efforts to read the back log, I’ve finally reached the 80s and Roger Stern’s run. Im currently alternating between reading both Amazing and Spectacular Spider-Man being around issue 90 for the latter. I’m so close to the Alien Costume saga that I can taste it.

The most recent issue I read for Amazing was #248. The main story was alright. A quick conclusion to the previous issue’s story which saw Peter tracking down the Wrecking Crew member “Thunderball” out to Ronkonkoma, Long Island after he inadvertently stumbled upon his crew planning a heist whilst spying on a mob informer from several issues back. The conclusion is short and satisfying, with Spidey playing keepaway with a villain whose raw physical prowess rivals Thor. The story wraps up simply with a battle in the Long Island Expressway with Spidey taking the guy down, but getting blamed for causing a major traffic jam. Classic.

The second story in the book, The Boy Who Collects Spider-Man, is the real treat. I’ve long heard this to be a fan favorite and it’s easy to see why. I remember the story being adapted in the 90s Animated Series in the two part episode Make a Wish (with several alterations and a big Doc Ock subplot to pad out the tale). What could have been just another retelling or Spider-Man’s origin story, something Roger Stern had already written near the beginning of his run on Spectacular Spider-Man before his transition over the writer for the main book, becomes a humanist tale about what it’s like to see Spider-Man through the eyes of a child. The short story is told through newspaper clippings, flashbacks, and a simple conversation between Spidey and a young boy. It’s fairly inspiring and has a brief, if not bittersweet end.

 

My March reading list:

Flintstones (2017) 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
7/10
Ten issues in and I still don't know how I feel about this. It would be better if it focused on the characters a bit and wasn't quite so nihilistic. It is amusing and interesting - even funny in places. I might like it more, if it were as smart as it thinks it is or if I were more aligned with its anti-society world view.

Captain America (2013) 5, 6, 7, 8
7/10
Remender and Romita Jr run. Still good but dragging a little.

Chilling Adventures in Sorcery (Archie) 1, 2
3/10
I thought this was something different when I bought it. Apparently, Archie took some issues of its 1970s series, removed the color, and wrapped it in a cover by a modern artist. I thought it was an Afterlife with Archie spinoff. It's actually pretty weak horror. The first two issues are drawn in Archie stryle, very jarring for horror comics.

Incredible Hulk by Peter David Omnibus Vol 1: 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342
7/10

Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality 4
7/10

Betty & Veronica Friends Forever: What If...? 1
4/10
Sometimes I read something just to go to sleep, and this fit the bill.

Mercy Sparx 0
4/10
Free from Comixology, but not too great.

The Creeps 21, 23
8/10
Loving this magazine. 50 pages of b&w horror comics in the Warren style, $5.95 bi-monthly. It makes me happy such a thing is being published.

Sponge Bob Squarepants Comic Crazy Take Two Tpb
6/10
Found this little trade at Ollie's for $2. Lots of fun shorts.

Doc Macabre 1
5/10
Nice art by Bernie Wrightson, but character didn't grab me.


Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 1, 2
9/10
Surprised how much I liked this. Atmospheric, much more focused than Afterlife with Archie, well thought out antagonist. Love the art and colors.

 

Wonder Woman Vol 2 by George Perez (Issues 15 - 24 +Annual #1) - 9/10
Have pretty much the same praise for this volume as I did the first. It does however make a mistake of not including WW's first meeting with Superman from Action Comics #600 as some pretty important events that affect WW's status quo happen in that book that you have pick up on yourself as they provide not even a summary of what happened. The best stories here are the ones relating to the death of supporting character Myndi Mayer and her subsequent will reading in the Annual.

The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman by Liam Sharp - 7/10
The main plot was probably above-average at best but I was reasonably entertained by it. Sharp has a good handled on both WW and Bats' characters, WW playing the role of diplomat/peacemaker and nice to see a Batman isn't always on dick-mode. If you're not familiar with Celtic mythology I feel you'll probably get a little lost, saying this as I'm not and had to familiarize myself with the names. The main star here is Sharp's art however, this and his work on Green Lantern probably make him one of my favorite DC artists right now.

 

Currently re-reading Gundam the Origin vol. 1...trying to refresh my memory on the storyline and the differences between it and the anime.

 

Binged all of Lock and Key, all 6 volumes and the bonus collecting some one shot stories.

Wow. Solid 8/10. That was really good. It’s not my genre and that ending went darker than it probably needed to, hence not a 10/10. But that was good stuff.

 

Fantastic Four: Original Sin
Fantastic Four: Back in Blue
Fantastic Four: The End is Fourever

Written by James Robinson, illustrated by Leonard Kirk and others - 8/10

I've never been a big Marvel reader, but I've grown to like the Fantastic Four quite a bit. I'm reading the current monthly series, and when I ran across these collected editions of the previous series in the local used bookstore I decided to pick them up. I did not see volume 1, but I hope to get that at some point as well. It's funny, I've got the first Fantastic Four omnibus, Epic vol. 3 (both from the very beginning of the series) and now these three books and the current Dan Slott series, so I've read both ends of the Fantastic Four series, and next to nothing from the 50 years in between.

These three volumes detail the aftermath of a disaster in New York for which the FF are blamed. So they lose their home in the Baxter Building, Reed and Sue's son is removed from their custody, their daughter is living with "uncle" Dr. Doom (!), Ben Grimm is framed for murder and sent to prison, and Johnny Storm has lost his powers. This is an 18 issue "secret villain works to destroy the FF" storyline, and I have no doubt it reads better in collected form than it did as individual issues, because it really is a single story with chapters, in my view. This type of story, where someone is manipulating things from behind the scenes, is nothing new so points off for a less than original premise. But the story is well told and as always when books like this work, it's the characters that provide so much of the appeal, and I like these characters. At various times during the story they act as individuals and as a group, and the interactions demonstrate the close bond they all have as a family. It's well-written material.

 

@Goldimus Prime, I like Lee/Kirby FF a lot. Between the 1st Omnibus, Epic Collection vol. 3 (which I'm currently reading) and Masterworks vol. 6 (which was my gateway to the series), I've read most of the first 60 issues, and though it's a little weak to start with, I can see why it's so highly regarded. It's universe-building high adventure with some great characters.